the backbone of the democratic party, and what happens in south carolina has a ripple effect. what happens in north carolina, georgia, mississippi, alabama, and across the country where there is significant african- american population. there is a statistic i love to use that says 90% of african- americans in this country can trace at least one ancestor from south carolina, and why is that? it is because 40% of enslaved people came into this country through the port of charleston, so it really is the glue for a lot of the african-american community. it has been the backbone for the democratic party. we have seen democracy as we saw in the last election and south carolinian voters, particularly the black vote will continue to do that is the first in the nation primary. there is a number of elected officials. they could ve
benefit. howard: it s the difference between general public opinion and the media. between boston, new york and washington. look, some of this gets very personal. of msnbc host joy reid said she never would have gotten into harvard without affirmative action because she had no college test prep. what s been your experience in the perception? look, i think there s a couple things, and i think to a point ben is right. even those folks who are celebrating this ruling saying this equalizes the college admissions system, let s take a look at the numbers. and i think the media miss this point too. georgia s a great place to do it. the state of georgia has 30% african-american population. the university of georgia only has 8.2% african-americans in its student body. so the idea that affirmative action is somehow creating this bastion howard: that it s the magic bullet. is not actually true. but to ben s point, i think what this ruling will actually do is cause universities to look at