Before the United States Supreme Court on Thursday, June 29, 2023 in Washington (AFP / OLIVIER DOULIERY)
The very conservative US Supreme Court on Thursday put an end to affirmative action programs at the university, a new historic reversal a year after its abortion reversal.
Contrary to the opinion of the three progressives, its six conservative judges ruled that campus admissions procedures based on the color or ethnic origin of the candidates were unconstitutional.
Many universities “have mistakenly assumed that the basis of a person’s identity is not their credentials, skills acquired, or knowledge gained, but the color of their skin. Our constitution does not condone this,” Magistrate John Roberts wrote on behalf of the university by majority.
“In other words, the student should be treated on the basis of their individual experience, not on a racial basis,” he adds.
After the civil rights movement of the 1960s, several highly selective universities introduced racial and ethnic criteria into their admissions procedures to correct inequalities resulting from the United States’ segregationist past.
Dubbed “affirmative action,” these measures have allowed an increase in Black, Hispanic, and Native American student numbers, but have always been heavily criticized in conservative circles for opaqueness and “reverse racism.”
The Supreme Court, which has been referred to on several occasions since 1978, had banned quotas but always authorized universities to take racial criteria into account, among other things. So far, she has considered striving for more diversity on campus to be “legitimate,” even if it violates the principle of equality for all American citizens.
On Thursday, she made a U-turn, as she had done on June 24, 2022, by rescinding the federal abortion law that had guaranteed her since 1973.
– “Lipstick on a Pig” –
His about-face drew a chorus of applause from the right. “It’s a great day for America,” “we’re going back to a performance system,” wrote on Truth Social former Republican President Donald Trump, the originator of this reversal as he overhauled the court significantly during his tenure.
The Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, in Washington on October 7, 2022 (AFP / OLIVIER DOULIERY)
Conversely, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer denounced an “imprudent decision” that “poses a huge obstacle to greater racial justice.”
More measuredly, Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States, emphasized that “affirmative action has never been a complete response to the need to build a more just society.” But she “gave us a chance to show that we deserve more than just a seat at the table,” he added on Twitter.
The strongest criticism was voiced within the court itself, whose three progressive judges wrote to express their deep disagreement with their peers.
“Six unelected members of the majority overturned the status quo because of their political preference,” Sonia Sotomayor wrote on her behalf. Rather, they wanted to “apply a colorless varnish to a society in which the issue of race matters and will continue to matter.”
While the majority authorizes universities to consider candidates’ “personal experiences” and the impact of their skin color on their careers, that would be “lipstick on a pig,” she said.
– Apple, Google and GM –
This ruling follows a lawsuit filed in 2014 against the oldest private and public universities in the United States, Harvard and North Carolina.
The Harvard University campus on April 22, 2020 in Cambridge, Mass. (Getty/Maddie Meyer)
At the head of a group called Students for Fair Admission, a neocon activist, Edward Blum, had accused them of discriminating against Asian students. The latter, whose academic performance is well above average, would be more numerous on campus if their performance was the sole selection criterion, he argued.
After suffering multiple defeats in court, he turned to the Supreme Court, which ironically has never been more diverse than it is today, with two African American judges and one Hispanic judge.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden had advocated the status quo in vain. “The future of our country depends on its ability to have leaders with different profiles, capable of leading an increasingly diverse society,” his representative said.
The President is due to address the issue at 16:30 GMT.