The Supreme Court Says Schools Can't Discriminate Against One Minority to Benefit Another

It Was a Lot "Easier" When Affirmative Action Pitted Minorities Against White Students

In March of 2022, several months before the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether using race in college admissions is constitutional, I wrote a column in this space that said in part that, “Cases involving schools and affirmative action historically have been about minorities on one side of the divide and white kids on the other. Minorities have been portrayed as victims; whites, as the privileged ones. But now we’re witnessing something new: disputes with minorities on both sides of the line — Black and Hispanic kids on one side, Asian Americans on the other.”

I went on to say that, “It’s raising a question that must make liberals and progressives, who see themselves as the champion of racial minorities, uncomfortable. Is it fair to discriminate against one minority, Asian Americans, to increase enrollments at some of America’s top schools for other minorities, Blacks and Hispanics?”

I think I was on to something when I wrote that, but now it looks like I gave liberals too much credit. If the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision knocking down race-based affirmative action in college admissions has made liberals “uncomfortable” — I haven’t found evidence of that.