Editor’s Note: We occasionally receive notes from our readers in response to an Intrepid Ed News article or Weekly Digest message. They are appreciated. Most are quite brief, expressing either agreement or disagreement. Occasionally, we receive a lengthier letter that is thoughtful and poignant. We publish this one so the author’s thinking may be shared with a larger audience.

November 3, 2022

To the Editor:

Regarding your weekly Intrepid digest letter dated November 1, 2022, on Affirmative Action, communication of this nature needs to include the voice of those primarily impacted by these decisions—in this case, people of color. Lacking explicit input from systematically othered groups leaves those not affected by these decisions room to come to their own conclusions, especially when prompted with questions. We cannot talk about these issues nor fully understand their impact in independent schools without the perspective of a person of color, specifically a Black person of color when it comes to affirmative action. How can we talk about belonging if we don’t amplify the voices of those who historically do not?

You provided the white person’s narrative, “stealing a spot from my child,” but the other side, which sounds like…