The Supreme Court rules against affirmative action
Image: Gallup
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a pair of rulings that struck down affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina (UNC).
- The conservative-majority Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines in the UNC case, and 6-2 in the Harvard dispute, as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself.
Together, the rulings mean that US colleges and universities can no longer explicitly consider a prospective student’s race in their admissions process. And they effectively overturn a 2003 SCOTUS ruling saying admissions offices could consider race because schools had a compelling interest in maintaining diverse campuses.
⚖️ The arguments: In both of yesterday’s rulings, the Court sided with conservative nonprofit Students for Fair Admissions, which alleged the universities’ affirmative action programs illegally discriminated against white and Asian-American applicants by giving a boost to applicants from underrepresented racial groups.
- In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said both schools’ programs violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because they “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."
- In the main dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued the exact opposite – that banning such programs violates the Equal Protection Clause by further entrenching centuries of racial inequality in education, saying America first needs to address existing race-based disparities prior to declaring race as irrelevant under the law.
📅🎓 On a separate note: The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the legality of President Biden’s plan to forgive $10,000 to $20,000 in federal student-loan debt for all borrowers sometime later today, right before the Court breaks for summer recess.
📊 Flash poll: Do you agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action in college admissions?
See a 360° view of what media pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that while affirmative action may be gone from higher education in the US, it will not – and should not – end universities’ efforts to build student bodies that reflect the country.
- Others contend that affirmative action programs rightly recognized that colleges and universities benefit from a diverse student body or more vibrant classroom discussions and to learn skills that will help them thrive in a multiracial society.
- “Affirmative action is gone. Diversity on campus need not be.” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban is a catastrophic blow to the American dream” –LA Times Editorial Board
- “The Supreme Court’s Decision on Affirmative Action Must Not Be the Final Word” –Olatunde Johnson, TIME
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that the decision represents one of the Supreme Court’s finest hours in history, since it eliminates racial discrimination in the form of affirmative action policies at universities.
- Others contend that the Court has finally – and thankfully – eliminated the greatest obstacle to equal justice under law, aka state-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of race.
- “A Landmark for Racial Equality at the Supreme Court” –WSJ Editorial Board
- “Race Discrimination Loses Its Legal Protection” –National Review Editorial Board
- “Supreme Court finally tells schools to stop discriminating on the basis of race” –Washington Examiner Editorial Board
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