Leonard Pitts Jr.: You can't fix education by lowering the bar

Indeed, for all the talk about the so-called “reverse racism” of affirmative action, I have long argued that the real problem with it — and the reason it needs an expiration date — is that it might give black kids the mistaken idea they carry some inherent deficiency that renders them unable to compete with other kids on an equal footing.

We should be wary of anything, however well-intentioned, however temporary, which conveys that impression to our children. I am proof we have been doing just that for a very long time. And it burns to realize people have judged you by a lower standard, especially when you had the ability to meet the higher one all along. So this “interim” cannot end soon enough.

Because ultimately, you do not fix education by lowering the bar. You do it by lifting the kids.