Conservative Supreme Court Hails an Age of Regression

SAM LUO (Opinions Editor)

In late October, the Supreme Court deliberated on race-conscious admission policies at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard. According to NPR, the debate is whether the universities’ affirmative-action programs violate the 14th Amendment. If the court decides to rule against the universities, race will no longer play a factor during the college and university admissions process. Affirmative action needs a place in higher education to safeguard the culturally diverse and inclusive communities in higher education and the corporate world. 

With the current conservative leaning court, the ruling could reverse about 40 years’ worth of precedent. 

In California, race-based admission policies are banned in higher education, as stated by the Washington Post. Based on self-reported data from UCLA and UC Berkeley’s official websites, these prestigious schools and others alike predominantly admit Asian and White students into undergraduate programs. 

The system coins itself a meritocracy, but the lack of representation across the UC campuses and other institutions is unsettling. For decades, affirmative action has proven effective in evening out the playing field of the wealth gap by race. What is at stake is the much-needed diversity in profitable industries and influential spheres. 

According to the Boston Globe, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the concept of diversity and the vagueness of the construct during the debate. Thomas and his conservative colleagues fail to visualize the long-term implications of overturning affirmative action. 

If admission programs across America follow the precedent set by California and the judges, there will be a huge ripple effect bleeding into other facets of society. Climbing the corporate ladder, higher level management and overall workplace diversity face new challenges for minorities. Amid a time of social unrest, the Supreme Court, intentionally or not, invites a new age of political discourse and civil disobedience that is only at its beginning. 

Packing conservative judges on the highest court of law undoes the grueling work and movement of the Civil Rights movement and its current institutions to redress past grievances toward minority populations.