The Future of Affirmative Action

In looking at race relations in America there is possibly no other topic that is as vitriolic as that of affirmative action. In asking what form of ethnic diversity should our nation pursue, either assimilation or pluralism, we must also consider how to accomplish that. Indeed after decades of state sanctioned racial discrimination which kept minorities, particularly African Americans, in a state of economic and political suppression programs like affirmative action were necessary. The efforts of affirmative action programs were to correct the past mistakes of racism and discrimination. Now nearly fifty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act there are those who feel the concept of affirmative action now stands to facilitate the very evils it was enacted to end.

In the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, the court ruled that state governments could use race in determining who could be accepted. What this did not include was a standardized point system. Now that decision is being challenged by the upcoming case Fischer v. University of Texas. With the current court leaning just right of center, there is a significant chance that such policies as that use race as an attempt to increase diversity on campus could be ruled unconstitutional.

Proponents of these practices claim that it allows for greater academic diversity by accepting applicants from various socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. To do away with such practices, proponents claim, would sharply reduce the acceptance of African and Latino Americans. Indeed diversity is important, especially in colleges and universities, for it is during this time in the lives of young adults when they are most exposed to new ideas and new people. To have that diversity reduced would be unfortunate. However, those who oppose these pseudo-affirmative action policies do so out of any feelings of racism, instead they feel that taking a person’s race into account under any circumstances is wrong.

The person who filed the suit that has led to the case which will be heard by the Supreme Court is Abigail Fischer, who felt that her race prevented her from achieving enrollment at the university. In Texas the top ten percent of students from each high school are automatically accepted, a criterion the Ms. Fischer did not meet. This placed her into a secondary category in which race plays an unspecified role in determining accepted applicants. One can certainly see how this could cause one to feel frustrated, and at worst discriminated against. Now with this upcoming case the question of the necessity of affirmative action on a post-Civil Rights America is falling back into the public eye.

Personally, while I understand that using race as a factor in acceptance policies may seem counter-productive at first glimpse, I also acknowledge the legitimate role that these polices and those like them have played in undoing the drastic ethnic inequalities that were the result of prolonged legal discrimination. In her majority opinion of the 2003 Grutter case former Justice Sandra Day O’Conner believed there would eventually come the day in which “the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary”. Some believe that day has come and only time will tell if the Supreme Court agrees.

The New York Times article can be found here.