It's not insulting to me. And of course they did (and to some degree) many inequities still exist. I gave a few examples. There are a hundred more. Question. Do you
really think the playing field is equal? If so, that is what I meant by you being idealist (which is intertwined with being unrealistic).
But I've walked in different shoes and watched experiments unfold around me. While I am white, I also grew up poor. I'm the only sibling of 6 that went to school outside of high school (finished college at age 30 as an EE). Same with my wife. She had 8 brothers and sisters and the only one who stepped foot in post secondary education. Between us, we have brothers who were in prison (plural), several HS dropouts, teen pregnancies, divorce, and drug addictions. Not too good of a good track record. And the cycle continues because their children are also troubled.
So we broke the cycle and became overly passionate with education and nurturing. I'm convinced my wife and I didn't achieve our potential. The word "college" was never mentioned in the home. Ever. So if I did learn that USAFA rounded up an applicant
slightly because they were underrepresented or had some hardships, I'd sleep like a baby.
I joked that I didn't want to hear our childrens 1st word as mommy or daddy, but rather college. As parents, we did everything in our power to set our kids up. Being white and finally doing well financially, we didn't see any doors close. Being the best parents as we could, we groomed our children to their maximum potential. That included ACT prep tests, having the resources to experience foreign trips, language immersion classes, a stay at home mom, etc. In other words, we stacked the deck in our favor. And make no mistake, being white didn't hurt.
No, I don't feel guilty. That was our job. I'm overly proud that one daughter will be a Army dentist in July and our USAFA son is at Harvard Medical School. Meanwhile, our son and daughters cousins are not doing so hot. So if one of them broke out of the cycle and fell a little short from our children's advantages (make no mistake, they had advantages), I'd hope someone would contemplate giving them a break. Even if that meant stepping on my childrens toes who had a stacked deck.
In summary, to make things more equitable long term, I support some of the efforts that are taking place. IMHO, the pendulum swung too far in the past (Quota, political correctness etc). Trying to fix inequities by giving away money (welfare) more or less has been a disaster. Surely, USAFA advertising to nudge more underrepresented students to apply can only be a net positive.