Customer Reviews

Color and Money: How Rich White Kids Are Winning the War over College Affirmative Action

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Despite the provocative title this book really hits home with objective facts and measurable effects, regardless of debates over motivations. It could have used more practical how-to guides for conscientious parents and students to counter this stuff. Overall however I loved it and so did my son.

Slowly but surely, the disparity between high blown rhetoric and stone cold reality in admissions to marquee-name colleges and universities is being exposed. Peter Schmidt stands out in this regard in "Color and Money" by his ability to reveal the hypocrisy that permeates the rarefied atmosphere of higher education.

Because affirmative action is by its very nature an emotional issue, Schmidt wisely takes great pains to lay out a clear paradigm in order to help readers distinguish between ideology and evidence. He makes a compelling case that forces them to reexamine their preexisting positions on the policy.

Not everyone will agree with Schmidt's conclusions, but no one can deny that he hasn't performed a real service at a time when so much is on the line. "Color and Money" is an important contribution to an issue that won't go away.

Walt Gardner taught for 28 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District and was a lecturer in the UCLA Graduate School of Education.