It’s not the first time the Supreme Court has dropped a bombshell. Not even the first time in the past year.
But Thursday’s judgement on affirmative action is a bombshell for sure.
One that is set to detonate under this nation’s educational establishment. About time, too.
The case goes back almost a decade to the moment in 2014 when a group of Asian American students began a lawsuit against Harvard University.
The students had been rejected by the university, despite having the best possible qualifications.
What is more, the complainants noted that the number of Asian Americans at Harvard was similar each year, despite the number of Asian Americans increasing.
In other words, it looked suspiciously like the university had a quota system in place.
Harvard of course did everything they could to deny these claims. Unfortunately they were claims that everybody could see were true.
Harvard — like most other educational institutions in this country — was desperately trying to increase quotas of certain students, notably black Americans.
In doing so inevitably they were having to discriminate against students who were over-performing. And while other groups over-perform too, the case of Asian Americans and Harvard was so clear as to be almost undeniable.
Yet Harvard tried to deny it, and fought like anything not to have its selection criteria revealed.
The university claimed that such criteria constituted its “trade secrets.” They were right. But they came out nonetheless.
One revelation was that Harvard routinely marked down Asian Americans who it had not even invited for interview on things such as “character traits.”
By marking them down in such a way Harvard could then dismiss the application as not being up to scratch.
The applicant had simply been racially judged. Along clearly racist criteria. By an institution claiming to be acting in the name of “anti-racism.”
Over the course of a decade the case ended up in the Supreme Court which yesterday issued its verdict. In a 6-3 judgment, the Court said that universities like Harvard are in violation of the 14th Amendment´s Equal Protection Clause.
As Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his deciding opinion: “The student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race.
“Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
It is hard to overstate how seismic this judgement is. Not just Harvard but almost every university in the country has been engaging in unconstitutional activity for years.
And not just the universities. Just think of the numerous sectors in American life that have followed the same criteria and priorities as the universities.
When he was mayor, Bill de Blasio attempted a radical makeover of New York City’s Specialized Schools programs to fit along precisely such race lines. Private and public companies have done the same.
The most “progressive” companies in America — like Google and Facebook — have all been engaged in the same activities as Harvard.
Instead of focusing purely on merit, everything in this country has ended up being about the identity of the person not their competency.
So it is fitting that one of the justices who did not agree with the judgement was the most recent appointee to the court — Ketanji Brown Jackson.
She disagreed with the other justices — especially Justice Clarence Thomas – in unusually strong language.
And while it might not be nice to point this out, nevertheless a home truth needs saying here.
There is a reason why Justice Jackson might be opposed to the idea of color-blind attitudes in America. Because the fact is she is where she is today because of her sex and the color of her skin.
When President Biden had the opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court Justice he announced straight away that he wanted to appoint a black woman to the court.
He did not say that he wanted to appoint the best possible justice — be they white, black, Asian, male, female or anything else. He specifically said that he wanted a black woman. And that is how Ketanji Brown Jackson got where she is.
In other words she is a beneficiary of the idea that has held sway in recent decades in America. Which is the prioritizing of race above all else.
It is an ideology which has done profound damage to this country’s ability to achieve and to its standing in the world.
Most other countries — notably our rivals — are not engaged in these acts of self-harm. They are engaged in being as competitive as possible on the world stage.
Only America in this generation has led the way in obsessing about peoples’ personal characteristics. Only this country has decided to prioritize everything except excellence.
In the process we have done an injustice to people of all races. We have done an injustice to the numberless students whose careers have been held back because they are from the “wrong” race.
And we have done a deep disservice to those students deemed to be from the “right” race (can you believe we even have to say this in 2023?).
How have black and other prioritized students been done a disservice because our institutions have suggested that they might not be there because of their competency but because of the color of their skin.
In some cases this will be the case. In many others it won’t be but will have put a doubt in people’s hearts that will linger like a cancer.
The Supreme Court has seen sense. The racism of the “anti-racists” has been exposed for what it is: unconstitutional and un-American.
The lessons that need to be taken from this judgement should tear like a rip tide through this country and its institutions. High time.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
