There is an understandable incredulity one behalf of most white people for how it could be logically possible that black people (and other minorities) are somehow inherently bad at test taking. It is this belief that fuels the argument, “Why don’t ‘they’ just study harder?”

But this argument, while it may seem superficially logical, does an incredible disservice to the fundamental argument about racial bias in standardized testing and in fact is an argument that itself defies logic.

Let’s take the mother of all standardized tests, the SAT. Study after study has shown that minority students under-perform when compared against their white counterparts. Why is that? Do you believe there to be a genetic predisposition that minorities are somehow less intelligent? Assuming that people making this argument are not simply racists in academic clothing, the answer has to be no. And in fact there is no credible scientific date to suggest that minorities are somehow intellectually inferior.

So if you grant the premise that there is no biological reason to explain the lower test scores of minorities, you have to take a look at the external factors. And thus the argument, “study harder.” But that is where the “racial bias” issue comes into sharp relief. Now I would argue that we muddy the waters when we limit the discussion to a racial disparity when really it’s more of a socioeconomic disparity of which ethnic minorities tend to be unevenly burdened.

People of a lower socioeconomic class tend to have less time and less support when it comes to studying. High school students may have younger siblings or family members to care for, they may have part time jobs, they may be ostracized by their family and/or community and accused of “acting white.” None of this lends itself to a climate in which simply “studying harder” is either easy or in some cases possible at all.

Let’s take two scenarios: Let’s take College Applicant A: Raised in a middle class family, had access to tutors after school and worked hard to earn A’s while getting 1100 on their SAT. Now College Applicant B: Came from an economically depressed family, but managed to get B’s in school with no tutor, 1000 on their SAT, held down a part time job, and helped care for younger siblings. Who gets into the school?

Suggesting that all people taking the same test are somehow on a level playing field to begin with is naïve. How then can you argue that this unevenness doesn’t impact the test results?

Study after study has shown that minority students under-perform [on the SAT] when compared against their white counterparts.

Really? Asians under-perform whites? Kind of undermines your argument doesn't it?

Suggesting that all people taking the same test are somehow on a level playing field to begin with is naïve.

How are the firefighters on an uneven playing field if they have been performing the same jobs for years? It is not as if you are comparing a poor, inner-city school with a rich, snobby "white" school. The firefighters have worked the same job for the same employer.

No. My argument is not undermined by noting that Asian-American students often test on par or above white students. I go on to say that:

"Now I would argue that we muddy the waters when we limit the discussion to a racial disparity when really it’s more of a socioeconomic disparity of which ethnic minorities tend to be unevenly burdened."

Hence my argument is that ethnicity isn't the only (and maybe not even the most prevalent) factor in predicting the success rate of test takers.

As for whether or not the firefighters could be considered on equal footing, yes your argument is naïve. Here’s why. The city of New Haven has a documented history of preferential and discriminatory hiring practices. One of the earliest lawsuits was brought by black firefighters in the city of New Haven in 1973. They won. In 1993, the NAACP sued the city of East Haven (across the river) for discriminatory hiring as well. As of 1996, East Haven had never hired a black police officer or fire-fighter. That’s just in the communities surrounding the area of New Haven. Want more national evidence? Very well.

I quote Nicole Allan and Emily Bazelon’s article from June 2009: In New Jersey in 2006, two black fire officers from Camden won a suit that included evidence that African-American firefighters were abandoned by white ones at the scene of a fire, that beds in the firehouse were divvied up by race, and that a white fire chief had told one of the plaintiffs, "I am better than any 10 of you fucking black guys." A federal appeals court the same year found Cleveland liable for putting most of its African-American firefighters in one battalion, which became known as "Monkey Island."

This references legal action that took place in 2006. Three years ago. This is still going on. Arguing that people doing the same job have the same chance for promotion is like arguing that women who do the same job as men earn the same amount of money. It simply isn’t a position that is supported by facts.