Who Does Affirmative Action Help Most? White Women

The Supreme Court is about to hand down a major decision on affirmative action, based on the case of Abigail Fisher, who claims she was denied admission to the University of Texas because she's white. Which is kind of ironic, writes Sally Kohn at Time, because "Abigail Fisher is exactly the kind of person affirmative action most helps in America today." Studies have repeatedly shown that white women have benefited disproportionately from the policies, compared to people of color.

"The successes of white women make a case not for abandoning affirmative action, but for continuing it," Kohn writes. Women still face workplace challenges. But black people face perhaps greater challenges; one study found that given identical resumes, employers were much more likely to call back "Greg" than "Jamal." As for Fisher, "there is ample evidence that she just wasn't qualified"—her "personal achievement index" scores were weak, according to ProPublica. Yes, the University did admit students with lower grades than Fisher. "Five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two were white." Click for Kohn's full column. (More Abigail Fisher stories.)