It is all about meeting expected distributions by race, sex, and sexual preferences. Merit is secondary.
I was just pointing out that conservative media paints all affirmative action as a benefit to minorities. It’s not true. Most affirmative action benefits white women who generally aren’t in the highest percentiles of scholastic tests.
Not sure if that will be determined to be a "quota" system for acceptance. AA is OK, but "quotas" are not according to the SCOTUS judicial tap dance in the Bakke case of 1978
Merit is secondary.
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Merit, like comptence, is White Supremacism