Eh, in all the grand rhetoric about meritocracy I don’t seem to have seen anyone complaining about the lack of regulation in tuition, or the preferential treatment received by children of alumni, athletes, and people with a boatload of cash. I also don’t seem to see anyone complaining about the terrible laws that eliminate financial aid for people with marijuana convictions.

I agree that this young woman got shortchanged by a policy that was clearly not well implemented, and regardless of the ruling, it’s a certainty that UT and other universities will examine their affirmative action policies and improve them.

But let’s get one thing straight, black people can and do succeed without affirmative action.  Affirmative action exists because we know that recognizing a person’s basic humanity isn’t enough to ensure that they don’t experience discrimination.

If you want a true meritocracy, treat those at the top the same as those at the bottom, and complain about the underlying social problems that destroy a meritocracy… not the color of a person’s skin.