US Supreme Court Ends Affirmative Action at Colleges

First modification: 06/29/2023 – 22:32

The Supreme Court of the United States once again struck a blow against diversity. Just like when they reversed the ‘Roe v. Wade’, lifting the federal protection of the right to abortion, this Thursday, June 29, they attacked positive discrimination, the element that universities used to consider racial issues as a virtuous factor in the admission of students.

The six conservative magistrates prevailed against the refusal of the three Democrats who make up the strongest judicial body in the country and pointed out that American history “does not tolerate” this type of regulation.

“Many universities have wrongly concluded that the cornerstone of an individual’s identity is not the challenges overcome, the skills built, or the lessons learned, but the color of their skin,” reads the sentence drafted by the president of the high court. , John Roberts.

This arises from the fact that they consider that the admission processes of Harvard and the University of North Carolina go against the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution on equality before the law.

However, they stressed that this ruling does not exclude that educational institutions cannot consider the experience that an applicant may have with racism and the impact on their life.

Regarding North Carolina, the complaint pointed out that the admissions policy discriminated against white and Asian applicants and benefited African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans; while, at Harvard, Asian students criticized that it was a subjective use to limit the number of acceptances.

The Court considers that both universities lack “sufficiently directed and measurable objectives that justify the use of race.” “They use race in a negative way, using stereotypes,” they added.

For the progressive Sonia Sotomayor, defender of institutions considering ethnicity, said that this decision “reverses decades of precedents and important progress.”

The concept of positive discrimination was protected by the Supreme Court from 1978, giving universities the power to manage it as a relevant factor in admissions, but in a limited way.

Meanwhile, it gained importance in the United States after a movement to protect African-American rights and end educational racial segregation in 1950.

opposite reactions

President Joe Biden stated that he “totally disagrees” with the court’s decision and urged universities not to “give up” on the fight for diversity.

“Universities must not abandon their commitment to ensuring that students have diverse experiences that reflect the entire United States,” he said.

While Chuck Schumer –Senate Democratic leader- called it “an ill-advised decision” and that it is an impediment to achieving “greater racial justice.

On the opposite side, former Republican President Donald Trump spoke, who asserted that it was a “great day for the United States.” “It is the decision that everyone expected and longed for and the result is incredible. We are going back to a completely merit-based system and that’s the way it should be!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Who also reacted was the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, who stressed that now “students will be able to compete based on equal criteria and individual merit.”

with EFE