Let's put aside all of the questions of the source's validity and assume this is true.
What the hell should anyone do about it?
You have to remember that you, the individual, have absolutely zero power whatsoever to make any sort of significant change. No matter what, anything you do to fight these types of systems will just make you look like a worse person, while changing nothing. Mapping out the possibilities of outcomes:
- You fight the system, win and become known (not a good thing, because remember you don't have any power to make a societal change!) or lose and not get into the college you want
- You play to the system, and it either doesn't work (same situation you were in before doing any action) or it does work (you get in!).
There is no logical scenario where you should do ANYTHING other than play into the system. So put down that 1% Hispanic.
Additionally: if you play the system and encourage other people to do so, the system becomes inefficient. Imagine 80% of the candidates claiming to be part of racial a minority, and no way to verify that without doing proper DNA-based racial profiling (which no company / university / association wants to do). When everyone is / claims to be a minority, there are no more minorities.
The first time someone points to something that is wrong, unjust etc, they are going to be laughed at, retaliated etc. Maybe the second, third, fourth time too. But they plant the seed, people hear about it and think about it, even if they don’t come out and say/support it openly. This doesn’t mean the first person’s actions are useless, even if nothing happens immediately.
The question then becomes who has the balls to be the first, most likely ruining their own career in the process?
There's a third option, which is to ignore the system. There's no binary choice between fighting or playing the system - you can simply do without it.
A comprehensive CS education is available for free for anyone sufficiently motivated and able to structure a proper curriculum for themselves.
That leaves the credentials and weak social networks that the system provides. Well, you have four years you're no longer wasting in the system to create a portfolio and build your own network. Plenty of time.
A lot of people go to college to build that network... and also, almost every single young person does not go to college for the reason of wanting to learn. They want the piece of paper that allows them to get jobs. You have infinite potential to learn as much as you want, but that means jack to anyone who requires a degree.
What the hell should anyone do about it?
You have to remember that you, the individual, have absolutely zero power whatsoever to make any sort of significant change. No matter what, anything you do to fight these types of systems will just make you look like a worse person, while changing nothing. Mapping out the possibilities of outcomes:
- You fight the system, win and become known (not a good thing, because remember you don't have any power to make a societal change!) or lose and not get into the college you want
- You play to the system, and it either doesn't work (same situation you were in before doing any action) or it does work (you get in!).
There is no logical scenario where you should do ANYTHING other than play into the system. So put down that 1% Hispanic.