Harvard Won a Key Affirmative Action Battle. But the War's Not Over
Recently, Harvard was sued over an allegation that they had biases in their admissions process. Harvard won the court case, but the affirmative action fight is not over.
For background, affirmative action permits racial consideration in college admissions without mandating specific racial quotas. This has been true since the Supreme Court case University of California vs. Bakke in 1978, where they first ruled in favor of racial consideration. However, over 40 years after that decision, the debate is not over.
The case against Harvard was one in a string of cases, all hoping to eventually end up at the Supreme Court. There was Fisher v. University of Texas in 2016, which did reach the Supreme Court and upheld the system of racial-conscious admission. In that case, it was a white girl who claimed she was not admitted to a university because a black student took her spot. The law suit against Harvard was based on discrimination against Asian-American students in admissions. While Harvard won against it, there are now federal investigations into its admission process.
On top of this, another case is being set up against the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and one that could be set underway soon against the University of California system.
Back in 2016, the decision was swung by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Last year, he was replaced with the more conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh. So, if any of the new cases make their way to the Supreme Court, affirmative action could be overturned.
Harvard Won a Key Affirmative Action Battle. But the War's Not Over
For a more humorous background on affirmative action and the Harvard case, check out the very first episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix and maybe YouTube).
For background, affirmative action permits racial consideration in college admissions without mandating specific racial quotas. This has been true since the Supreme Court case University of California vs. Bakke in 1978, where they first ruled in favor of racial consideration. However, over 40 years after that decision, the debate is not over.
The case against Harvard was one in a string of cases, all hoping to eventually end up at the Supreme Court. There was Fisher v. University of Texas in 2016, which did reach the Supreme Court and upheld the system of racial-conscious admission. In that case, it was a white girl who claimed she was not admitted to a university because a black student took her spot. The law suit against Harvard was based on discrimination against Asian-American students in admissions. While Harvard won against it, there are now federal investigations into its admission process.
On top of this, another case is being set up against the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and one that could be set underway soon against the University of California system.
Back in 2016, the decision was swung by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Last year, he was replaced with the more conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh. So, if any of the new cases make their way to the Supreme Court, affirmative action could be overturned.
Harvard Won a Key Affirmative Action Battle. But the War's Not Over
For a more humorous background on affirmative action and the Harvard case, check out the very first episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix and maybe YouTube).
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