{"id":14010,"date":"2022-11-19T21:40:20","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T02:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=14010"},"modified":"2022-11-19T21:40:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T02:40:21","slug":"conservative-supreme-court-considers-affirmative-action-arguments%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2022\/11\/19\/conservative-supreme-court-considers-affirmative-action-arguments%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservative Supreme Court Considers Affirmative Action Arguments\ufffc"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Amelia Trello, Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This Halloween, the US Supreme Court revisited the long held precedent concerning affirmative action.[1]<\/a> After decades, there is now a strong likelihood that the current conservative Supreme Court will overrule this precedent.[2]<\/a> The Court is considering whether universities can continue to take race into account during the admissions process.[3]<\/a>The conservative group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) is leading both challenges.[4]<\/a> SFFA argues that Harvard and the University of North Carolina\u2019s \u201cprograms violate equal protection principles, dash the promise of a colorblind society, and discriminate against Asian Americans.\u201d[5]<\/a> Although affirmative action has been an integral precedent in this country\u2019s educational system, the Court\u2019s overturning of Roe v Wade has citizens concerned with what they will decide for the consideration of race in the education system.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The founder of SFFA Edward Blum has been fighting for decades against what he believes are racial preferences during the school admission process.[7]<\/a>According to Blum, \u201c[w]hat is happening on college campuses today is that applicants are treated differently because of their race and ethnicity. Some are given a thumbs up. Some are given a thumbs down.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people in this country misunderstand what affirmative action entails.[9]<\/a> Those rooting against affirmative action tend to base their beliefs in common myths.8<\/sup> Contrary to popular belief, schools with affirmative action policies do not have quotas for the number of students of a certain race.[10]<\/a> In fact, having a policy like this would be unconstitutional, as decided by the Supreme Court in 2003.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, affirmative action policies do not give students of color an \u201cautomatic in.\u201d[12]<\/a> Per the constitution, colleges are permitted to use a \u201cwholistic evaluation process for students that takes race into consideration as one factor.\u201d[13]<\/a>Additionally, universities may only implement a policy like this if they have attempted to increase diversity by race neutral methods such as GPA or testing. [14]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people against affirmative action hold to the belief that diversity admissions should be based off factors such as income rather than race.[15]<\/a> However, affirmative action effectively targets diversity issues in ways that an income-based focus cannot.[16]<\/a> Higher income can allow families to live in good school districts, enroll in additional test prep courses and pay higher tuition, but systemic racism still creates a barrier to resources.[17]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, \u201ccenturies of systemic racism and intergenerational transfers have provided white households with far more wealth than households of color, even after controlling for income.\u201d[18]<\/a>Due to hundreds of years of oppression, students of color, especially Black students, are more likely to attend underfunded schools compared to similarly economically situated white students.[19]<\/a>Even wealthier students of color face direct educational barriers due to systemic racism.[20]<\/a>In fact, students of color are less likely to be referred to gifted programs compared to their white counterparts.[21]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affirmative action emerged as a tool to create equal opportunity during the Civil Rights Movement.[22]<\/a>Unfortunately, \u201cmillions of Americans continue to experience race and gender barriers in education, contracting and employment.\u201d[23]<\/a>The simple fact is that even with decades of affirmative action under our belt, students of color are still largely underrepresented across campuses nationwide.[24]<\/a> If the Court were to rule against affirmative action, representation on college campuses around the country would likely decrease.[25]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2022\/10\/31\/us\/affirmative-action-supreme-court<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/10\/31\/1131789230\/supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/10\/30\/politics\/harvard-unc-supreme-court-affirmative-action\/index.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/10\/31\/1131789230\/supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/08\/02\/us\/affirmative-action-misconception-trnd<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/a> https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/article\/5-reasons-support-affirmative-action-college-admissions\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[17]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[19]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[20]<\/a> https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/other\/striving-equal-opportunity-why-aclu-supports-affirmative-action#:~:text=Affirmative%20action%20helps%20ensure%20equal,giving%20everyone%20a%20fair%20chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[21]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[22]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[23]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[24]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[25]<\/a> Id.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amelia Trello, Staff Writer This Halloween, the US Supreme Court revisited the long held precedent concerning affirmative action.[1] After decades, there is now a strong likelihood that the current conservative Supreme Court will overrule this precedent.[2] The Court is considering whether universities can continue to take race into account [\u2026] <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3296,3619,110,390,3616,113,3617],"class_list":["post-14010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-juris-blog","tag-affirmative-action","tag-civil-rights-movement","tag-education","tag-equal-protection","tag-harvard","tag-united-states-supreme-court","tag-university-of-north-carolina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14010"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14012,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14010\/revisions\/14012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}