An Unbiased View of the Supreme Court's Latest Decision on Race

Is it fair when a person of color like me (Hispanic-Asian American) takes the seat of someone else? Probably not. I grew up in low-income housing projects with few resources and opportunities to go to college. I lost my dad to a brain aneurysm at the age of 10, which meant that my mother cleaned office buildings and barely had enough money to support me and needed assistance to survive. Was it fair that my dad didn’t have access to adequate employment health care and died at 46? Probably not, but I can’t change what happened.

I looked at my surroundings and realized that I needed to do something to improve my well-being. As a result, I was the first in my family to graduate from high school. Yes, others in my family went on to graduate from high school, but many did not. I went to a public college with financial aid even though I applied to other colleges. I didn’t have enough money to attend because the financial aid package wasn’t generous enough to survive. Was I perfect? No, I became an expectant father in my last year in high school, proving I wasn’t perfect. With that new constraint, I had to work to support my child and attend college with financial aid so that school was not an extra burden. Was that anyone else’s fault? No, my actions led to this constraint, generating a beautiful little girl that I lovingly call my firstborn. I was determined to raise her as best as possible while pursuing my ambition to rise from low-income housing projects.

Luckily, I survived the rigors of undergraduate study and found a friendly Jewish Professor, Professor Irving Stone (who has since passed away) at Baruch College, who had even more faith in me than I had. He encouraged me to apply to an American Economic Association program that selected 25 students of American Indian and other students of color from all 50 U.S. states. The prize would be to spend 8 weeks at Northwestern University with the best economic professors from that University to prepare for a Ph.D. in Economics. My family discouraged me from applying, telling me that the odds of being accepted were the same as being struck by lightning.

Professor Stone told me I had to apply. I did and was accepted. At the age of 20 years, I got an all-expense paid trip to Chicago to study with the best at no charge to me. It was my first time on an airplane in my entire life and quite an experience. I have flown more than 6 million air miles on American Airlines today.

I studied with 24 other exceptional students, some from wealthy backgrounds. Was that fair that I had to compete with other students of color with better opportunities than me? Probably not, but I never complained. Out of respect, I will not identify which students attending this program came from wealthy backgrounds. But all those attending were smart and exceptional. One student, Susan Collins, attended this summer program with me and today is the President of the Federal Reserve of Boston.

As for me, attending this program and putting it on my resume allowed me to gain an extra advantage over other students of color. Was that fair? Probably not. I applied to a few colleges because I didn’t have enough money for the college application fees. It was either to feed my infant daughter and wife or use the money for college application fees. I was accepted into Northwestern University. Was that fair that they would give me a spot just because I attended their Minority Doctoral Program? Probably not. However, Northwestern didn’t offer me a full scholarship. Without money to relocate to Chicago, IL, and pay for out-of-state tuition, I had to turn the offer down.

Instead, I accepted a full Graduate Teaching Assistantship at the University of Maryland (a public university) that offered free tuition and a stipend of $3,500.00 per year. They even offered me campus housing that required me to pay $3,250. That left me with $250.00 to support my family per year. I took it, and we made it work with the help of student loans, an extra job, and a spouse that worked at fast food restaurants. And in case anyone is wondering, I did pay back all my student loans.

My firstborn says I was unavailable to her because I was always working or studying, so she felt a part-time father raised her. Was that fair? Probably not, but it was the only way I could survive.

Let me fast forward and say that after receiving my master’s and Ph.D. in Economics, and yes, the first in my family even though others followed, I was able to land several exciting jobs during my 40-year career, (e.g., College Professor, Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, Economist at Barclays, and Chief Global Economist at JPMorgan Chase for one of its Wealth Management divisions).

For these reasons, my other two daughters were more fortunate than my first one. One daughter had the same drive I had. She wanted to leave nothing to chance and had her heart set on one University that gave preference to students with parents who attended that University. Was that fair? Probably not, but I never wasted time worrying about those things. I spent thousands of dollars hiring tutors for my daughter, hoping she could compete with other students whose parents did the same. Was that fair? Probably not.

She was accepted into her dream University and other students in her graduating class were upset that they did not. Was that fair? Probably not, but those students also had access to tutors and special classes. My daughter was a hard worker and, in my judgment, would have gotten in if it was a super-level playing field. But in life, there will never be a level playing field.

But since I promised to be unbiased, what about poor students that are white and would never get the opportunities that I received? Was it fair that we were left behind? Probably not. What should be done for them? One brilliant conservative and African American Professor is Dr. Glenn Loury, whom many liberals dislike. I studied mathematical economics under him at Northwestern University but remained unbiased. He argues that making college admissions based on an income criterion may be fairer. That is interesting because many students of color (like me) would still have received preference. Still, other students of color from wealthy backgrounds would have to compete on the same basis as wealthy white students. To maintain my neutral tone, I will not judge his views but admit that Middle America might agree with him.

Is it fair for wealthy white and non-white students to up their game and require their parents to spend more on tutors and programs to prepare their children to excel in college entrance exams? Probably not.

Is it fair that a poor person enters a convenience store, purchases a $2.00 lottery ticket, wins, and gets to live a luxurious lifestyle until they die or until they run out of money? Probably not.

Is it fair that a poor person is born with a genetic defect without the best health care available during their childhood and ends up dying 10 to 20 years earlier than a child of wealthy parents with better access to medical care? Probably not.

The bottom line is that we can spend all our time worrying about what is fair and what isn’t, or we can spend our lives trying to survive in a second-best world where we strive to generate a quasi-level playing level field that grants a running start to those that don’t have the same opportunities.

To quote Michael Jackson in 1991, "It don’t [shouldn't] matter if you are Black or White?”