The Death of Affirmative Action: A Denial of Race in America

By: Iris Qi

On June 29th, the Supreme Court struck down the practice of affirmative action, declaring UNC and Harvard’s admissions practices to be discriminatory towards Asian and white Americans. Affirmative action stemmed from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and is the practice of considering a student’s race in admissions. In a 6-3 and 6-2 decision, the majority conservative court concluded that the consideration of race in college admissions violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, which according to Cornell Law School “refers to the idea that a governmental body may not deny people equal protection of its governing laws.” The challenge to Harvard University was that Asian-Americans are less likely to be admitted compared to black, Hispanic, or white candidates who were similarly qualified. The similar challenge to the University of North Carolina claimed that admissions were giving “excessive preference” to underrepresented groups, and thus discriminated against white and Asian-Americans. In an ironic twist, all of the institutions which the justices attended, except for one, advocated for race-conscious consideration and defended both Harvard and UNC. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote that students should be judged “based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race” while Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent asserted that “ignoring race will not equalize a society that is racially unequal.”

Much of the majority argument rests on the idea that the Constitution itself is colorblind. And while race may not be explicitly mentioned in its text, the history of America is not. It is undeniable that the United States has long treated people of color in an oppressive manner. Colleges in particular, have a long history of barring students of color from the classroom. Harvard, for example, had been around since 1636 but didn’t make an official plan to recruit minority students until 1968. The failures of Reconstruction after the Civil War, intense racism in legislation and society, and the sum total of aggressions towards minority communities have created lasting divides. Simply put, as a country with a history of race-based discrimination and hate, it’s impossible to ignore its effects today. Affirmative action was one of the ways in which higher education attempted to remedy the shortcomings of their past.

Not only that, but it has been proven that a lack of affirmative action severely limits the amount of diversity in colleges. In a 2020 study, 9 public universities which had banned affirmative action in the 1990s saw a change in their demographics of Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. It began as an 11.2% difference from the actual high school graduates demographic and has since changed to a 14.3% difference. Universities in California also struggled with creating diversity on campus in the adoption of race-neutral policies, with UC Berkeley's associate vice chancellor of enrollment stating “there is no race-neutral alternative to being able to consider race.” In other words, it’s impossible to promote racial inclusion without actively thinking about it. The Supreme Court decision disregards the importance of diversity, especially in a melting pot country such as ours. Affirmative action is one way in which colleges and universities are able to promote that kind of diversity, something which is crucial for growth and success. It may not be perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.

At the same time, this hotly contested issue is also a complicated, complex subject that doesn’t really have a correct answer. It isn’t right to generalize ethnic groups and assign a shared experience to everybody within that group as everybody’s story is unique. People should be judged for their merit and individual achievements rather than be reduced to a single factor of their identity. Keeping in mind the absolute importance of diversity, it will now be up to colleges to maintain their commitments and for the rest of us to see how this decision will send progress rolling backwards or not.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-strikes-affirmative-action-programs-harvard-unc-rcna66770

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_protection#:~:text=The%20Fourteenth%20Amendment%27s%20Equal%20Protection,to%20a%20legitimate%20governmental%20objective.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/articles/how-does-affirmative-action-affect-college-admissions

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4061133-supreme-court-hands-down-fatal-blow-to-college-affirmative-action/

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23405267/affirmative-action-supreme-court-ruling-race-harvard-unc-chapel-hill

https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/campus-culture/diversity-inclusion/celebrating-50-years-diversity-inclusion/50-years-history#:~:text=Prior%20to%201968%2C%20there%20was,Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-31/california-banned-affirmative-action-uc-struggles-for-diversity#:~:text=In%201995,%20UC%20regents%20voted,public%20education,%20hiring%20and%20contracting

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-race-f83d6318017ec9b9029b12ee2256e744