The way it works is that Supreme Court hears their docket of cases for a whole session, then the session ends and the justices go off on their holidays and their decisions are released then. Clarence Thomas is probably sitting on a billionaire Republican donor’s yacht right now, fingering some Nazi memorabilia. Today, SCOTUS announced their decision in a pair of cases involving affirmative action in college admissions. The Supreme Court overturned the use of affirmative action. Congrats to American colleges and universities, you get to admit thousands of Beckys with bad grades, all while marginalizing the Black and brown kids who want to be doctors and scientists. As you would guess, Clarence Thomas, a shining beacon of affirmative-action employment, wrote the majority opinion dismantling affirmative action in colleges.
The Supreme Court on Thursday effectively overturned the use of affirmative action in college admissions policies, a practice that allows universities to consider a prospective student’s race along with factors such as academic merit, athletics, and extracurriculars. The court’s 6-3 ruling came after it heard arguments in a pair of challenges to affirmative action policies in place at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University.
ln its ruling, the court determined that race-conscious admissions violates the equal-protection clause under the U.S. constitution: “While this Court has recognized a ‘tradition of giving a degree of deference to a university’s academic decisions,’ it has made clear that deference must exist ‘within constitutionally prescribed limits.’ [The universities] have failed to present an exceedingly persuasive justification for separating students on the basis of race that is measurable and concrete enough to permit judicial review, as the Equal Protection Clause requires.”
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas argued, “Far from advancing the cause of improved race relations in our Nation, affirmative action highlights our racial differences with pernicious effect. In fact, recent history reveals a disturbing pattern: Affirmative action policies appear to have prolonged the asserted need for racial discrimination.”
Meanwhile, in a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited data showing that, “Racially integrated schools improve cross-racial understanding, ‘break down racial stereotypes,’ and ensure that students obtain ‘the skills needed in today’s increasingly global marketplace . . . through exposure to widely diverse people, cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.’ ”
“More broadly, inclusive institutions that are ‘visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity’ instill public confidence in the ‘legitimacy’ and ‘integrity’ of those institutions and the diverse set of graduates that they cultivate,” Sotomayor added.
Long a tool used to to help remedy historical discrimination and create more diverse student populations, proponents have argued affirmative action helps increase opportunities to underrepresented groups, including people of color. Opponents argue that the practice unfairly strips white people of those same opportunities and amounts to racial discrimination.
[From People]
Imagine writing this with a straight face: “Affirmative action policies appear to have prolonged the asserted need for racial discrimination.” Clarence “Reverse Racism!” Thomas. Mr. Why Are You Being Racist To Becky With The Bad Grades??? While I’m sure a lot has changed since my college days, it feels like most universities and colleges genuinely want to keep their affirmative-action admissions policies in place – rarely were these cases about a college arguing that their policies were unfair, it was always about some wealthy white bigot crying that they can’t go to Harvard because of all of the “quota admissions.” I wonder if universities will find work-arounds in their admissions process, or if universities are just going to be for white kids exclusively now.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) June 29, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.
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