According to this theory, any persotudent can be adversely affected if he or sheby attendsing a school where his or her level of academic preparation is lower than that of the average classmate. TSuch studeynts fall by the wayside and become more and more insecure. A researchtudy by Michael Kulaender of the University of California and Eric Grodsky of the University of Wisconsin examined thatis theory. Theyand found out that the itheory is invalid when students weare compared to peers of similar pre-university educational backgrounds. Mismatched students did earn lower grades, but thKulaendeir and Grodsky's research showed that they did quite well and benefited from being at more competitive institutions.

Supporters of affirmative action often come up withse the argument that black people deserve a certain kind of compensation for decades of mistreatment. It’s opponents, in turn, argue that America has come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement and feel that affirmative action is not necessary anymore. According to a study of the Federal Reserve Ddata in 2010, white Americans held more than 88 percent of the country‘s wealth, and makingde up 64 percent of the population. Black Americans made up 13 percent of the population and held only 2.7 percent. Furthermore, the racial wealth gap nearly tripled after the Civil Rights era, according to a Brandeis study. Although, their situation of blacks clearly improved, there is evidence that there are still socioeconomic disparities based on race.

Obama's election in 20048 roughadded fupel to the whole debate. For some, his election confirmed the effectiveness of affirmative action, since Obama admitted that he benefited from it in his academic career. For others, the election was a confirmation that the times of racial discriminations and thus the need for racial preference programs awere a thing of the past. When Obama was asked about his personal opinion on affirmative action he said the following: „"We have to think about affirmative action and craft it in such a way where some of our children who are advantaged aren’t getting more favorable treatment than a poor white kid who has struggled more.“" Obviously, Obama prefers class-based to race-based affirmative action to the race-based one. A study, however, found out that Obama's election was associated with greater perceptions that anyone, regardless of life circumstances, can achieve success in the U.S. through hard work. Therefore, his election is also associated with less for support for policies that address racial inequality, such as affirmative action.

Without any doubt, affirmative action has contributed to reducing discrimination against minorities as far asby colleges and in employment are concerned. However, it is politically problematic because it drives a wedge between diverse races in the fight for fairness. Given the controversy that surrounds race-based affirmative action, some reformers have advocated for class-based affirmative action policies. Maybe affirmative action does not hasve to be entirely ended,; maybe it just needs a new orientation, which is more appropriate to our era and thus supports the economically disadvantaged rather than specific racial groups.