A 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding affirmative action planted the seeds of its overturning, as justices then and now thought racism an easily solved problem

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Though not a surprise, the decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina drew widespread condemnation from civil rights groups and praise from conservative politicians.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/a-2003-supreme-court-decision-upholding-affirmative-action-planted-the-seeds-of-its-overturning-as-justices-then-and-now-thought-racism-an-easily-solved-problem-208807https://theconversation.com/a-2003-supreme-court-decision-upholding-affirmative-action-planted-the-seeds-of-its-overturning-as-justices-then-and-now-thought-racism-an-easily-solved-problem-208807
Retrieved on: 
Friday, June 30, 2023
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Supreme, Equal Protection Clause, Learning, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, University, Student, Education, UNC, Life, University of California, Fisher v. University of Texas, Bollinger, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Harvard University, Associate, Judgement, Government, Black people, School, Fair Admissions Campaign, Time, Supreme court, Law of the United Kingdom, Court, Program, Film industry, Practice of law, Insurance, Video game, Management
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NORTH CAROLINA, CALIFORNIA
Summary
Key Points: 
  • Though not a surprise, the decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina drew widespread condemnation from civil rights groups and praise from conservative politicians.
  • In my view as a race and equity legal scholar focused on business, the court had subtly established an affirmative action expiration date in its 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision.
  • By their very nature, academia and corporations are conservative, and general counsels at these entities are likely to caution against any program targeting historically underrepresented people.
  • At the most optimistic, this ruling forces higher learning institutions to revise programs and look to remedy past wrongs on a case-by-case basis.

The court’s opposition grew slowly

    • The primary Supreme Court-level battle over affirmative action started during the 1970s when a legal challenge reached the Supreme Court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.
    • In that 1978 case, Allan Bakke, a white man, had been denied admission to University of California at Davis’ medical school.
    • Since then, the Supreme Court has issued different rulings on whether race could be used in college admissions.

A colorblind society?

    • But even that is fraught with problems.
    • As novelists James Baldwin once asked: How does one articulate the constant presence of race to someone who is not experiencing it?
    • It is no small irony that the judgment the majority hands down today will forestall the end of race-based disparities in this country, making the colorblind world the majority wistfully touts much more difficult to accomplish.”
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