The Supreme Court, buoyed by the conservative justices appointed to it under former President Donald Trump’s time in office, just struck down affirmative action in a decision released on Thursday that makes it unconstitutional to consider race in university admissions. That eliminates the principal way universities have let in minorities with worse test scores instead of groups like Whites and Southeast Asians.
The decision will reverberate throughout the university admissions process, as universities have focused on “diversity” at the expense of almost everything else for decades now. Particularly, university admissions officials have insisted that there is no substitute for racial preferences in ensuring that “diversity” is boosted.
In the decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it. The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race. Many universities have for too long done just the opposite.” He also said the systems in place “lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points, those admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause.”
Chief Justice Roberts was joined in his decision by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Predictably, Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson freaked out about the decision, writing, “The Court ignores the dangerous consequences of an America where its leadership does not reflect the diversity of the People.” Sotomayor is a “latina” and Jackson is black.
Joining that crowd was Sen. Cory Booker, who said, “The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action is a devastating blow to our education system across the country. Affirmative action has been a tool to break down systemic barriers and we must continue to advance our ideals of inclusivity & opportunity for all.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action is a devastating blow to our education system across the country. Affirmative action has been a tool to break down systemic barriers and we must continue to advance our ideals of inclusivity & opportunity for all.
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) June 29, 2023
Left unsaid was why less talented people should take the spots of more talented people simply because of skin color, other than that the vague concept of “diversity” is worth bringing back racial preferences.
Affirmative action was an exception to the 14th Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. Now, that exception has been eliminated and any university that is state-funded or accepts government money must refrain from using racial preferences.
However, though racial preferences are gone, race can still be considered. Justice Roberts wrote, “nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected the applicant’s life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.”
So, though racial preferences are now illegal and they technically can’t discriminate on the basis of race, it seems likely that they’ll use that exception to do so in a less obvious way moving forward, which will in turn likely lead to more litigation until the limits of the exception are sorted out.
Featured image credit: By Fred Schilling – https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/justices.aspx, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124352288
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