Donald Trump's fixation on how President Obama got into Columbia and Harvard has been seen by many as a not-so-subtle suggestion that he only got into an Ivy League school simply because of affirmative action. African-American professor Michael Eric Dyson calls this "racism by inference," and told "Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer, "[Obama] is standing in for the rest of us as African-Americans. We are constantly questioned as to our legitimacy—whether we belong or not." Even David Letterman took Trump to task, saying that he should be prepared to apologize at an upcoming Late Show appearance. In response, Trump canceled and sent Dave one of his peevish letters. more ›

The Times has released a study focusing on the racial breakdown of students admitted into the city's high profile specialized high schools. They found white and Asian students to be offered admission at nearly five times the rate of black and Hispanics who took the test. That has led to demographics such as Stuyvesant being comprised of 67% Asians and Bronx Science of only 4% blacks. The disparities do not improve greatly even when just looking at students who came out of special test prep programs. The paper points out that diversifying the schools is hampered by a recent Supreme Court decision only allowing income to be a factor in admission's decisions as well as simply "a dearth of blacks and Hispanics taking the test." As far as why they're not taking it, the paper talks to students who suggest factors such as lack of motivation to not knowing where the admission testing sites even are. more ›