Totally agree, I would even go further and say that I think the "top tier" engineering schools are not better (actually I would argue worse because brilliant researchers aren't always brilliant teachers), they just are able to be a lot more selective with the people that they admit and that is probably the biggest factor on why they are perceived as elite. Which makes me roll my eyes at the whole "boo-hoo I didn't get into an ivy" culture that is driving all this resentment in the first place.
> Your basic premise is that the greater proportion a race is of the population, the more mono-cultural the population becomes
Yes and no. I am fully aware that just because I am white I am not of the same culture as another white person. And even more so are the differences between Asian cultures (I have lived and traveled in many parts of Asia). But if you take a general cross-section of people who look similar and live in the same geographical area, and compare them to a different group of people who look similar in the same area, you will find stark economic correlation between the two groups. This is why it is important to be conscious of the way that race is viewed and handled within a society. The argument that "I don't see color" is a very common sentiment amongst actual racists because
1. It makes them feel like they aren't a bad person
2. Conveniently allows them a free pass to not have to take a hard look at their ingrained racial biases
> Income based affirmative action
I agree, this to me seems like a much better metric for providing for affirmative action quotas, however:
1. It would result in very similar outcomes due to the economic correlation between racial groups
2. It could never happen because the American right would scream their heads off about socialism or whatever non-sense their propagandists spoon feed them.
3. Income != Wealth, and wealth is the real killer, so it also is not a silver bullet