ABSTRACT
In A Darker Shade of Crimson Rubén Navarrette, Jr. (1993) recalls his first days at Harvard College in 1985:
Of an entering class of just over 1,600 freshmen, I was one of only 35 Mexican-Americans … Was this the browning of the academy that affirmative action critics on Sunday morning talk shows foretold so ominously? Furthermore, aside from the low numbers, it was impossible not to notice the “quality” of those who had made it through Harvard’s half-opened door. We had been carefully chosen it seemed. We were valedictorians, star athletes, class presidents, and National Merit Scholars. We were, in short, the crema of the Mexican crop. (p. 56)
