The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday overturned one of the gains of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s by ending affirmative action programs at the university. Its six conservative judges judged – against the opinion of their three progressive colleagues – unconstitutional the admission procedures on campuses taking into account the color of the skin or the ethnic origin of the candidates.
Many universities “have mistakenly considered that the basis of a person’s identity is not their probation, the skills acquired or the lessons learned, but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not condone this,” wrote Magistrate John Roberts on behalf of the majority. “The student should be treated on the basis of their individual experiences, but not on racial lines,” he adds.
By the late 1960s, several highly selective universities had introduced racial and ethnic criteria into their admissions procedures in order to correct inequalities stemming from the United States’ segregationist past and to increase the share of black, Hispanic, and Native American students. in their workforce. These so-called “positive discrimination” policies have always been highly criticized in conservative circles, who consider them opaque and see them as “reverse racism”.
Referred to on several occasions since 1978, the Supreme Court had prohibited quotas, but had always authorized universities to take into account, among other things, racial criteria. So far, she has deemed it “legitimate” to seek greater diversity on campus.
An American academic admits to being white and not black.
On Thursday, she made a U-turn, as she had done on June 24, 2022, by canceling the federal right to abortion that she had guaranteed since 1973. She spoke out in a lawsuit filed in 2014 against the oldest private and public universities in the United States, Harvard and that of North Carolina, accused of discriminating against students of Asian origin. The latter, who have academic results clearly above the average, would be more numerous on campus if their performance were the only selection criterion, had pleaded the association Students for Fair Admission.
The High Court agreed with them, finding that, “despite their good intentions”, the admissions procedures at these universities used “imprecise” racial categories and racial “stereotypes”. His about-face sparked a chorus of applause on the right. “It’s a great day for America”, “we’re going back to a merit system”, wrote on Truth Social the former Republican President Donald Trump, architect of this reversal since he profoundly reshuffled the Court during its mandate.
In a televised address, Democratic President Joe Biden on the contrary expressed his “profound disagreement” and his “disappointment” after this judgment which “deviates from decades of jurisprudence”. He called on universities not to “give up” on their goal of diversity. “We can’t let the Court have the last word,” he added, noting that she was “not normal.”
Very strong criticism has been raised within it. “Six unelected members of the majority overturned the status quo based on their political preference,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote on behalf of the progressive minority. They preferred to “put a colorless veneer on a society where the racial question matters and will continue to matter”.
Yes, the majority allows universities to take into account candidates’ “personal experiences” and the impact of their skin color on their career path, but that’s like putting “lipstick on a pig,” he said. she asserted.
Harvard University has however hinted that it would use this opening, which could minimize the impact of this judgment. “The Court ruled that universities may take into account in their admissions procedures ‘an applicant’s comments on how their color has affected their life, whether in terms of discrimination, inspiration or otherwise’ . We will definitely comply with this decision,” she said on Thursday.
