Unconstitutionality of Racial Preferences Stirs Concern about Social Division in US

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that taking race into consideration in the college admissions process is unconstitutional, breaking with 45 years of legal precedent. Inevitably, there are concerns about whether diversity will suffer and deepen social division.

Affirmative action, which involved taking proactive, corrective measures to support the social advancement of racial minorities such as Black, Latino (from Central and South America) and Indigenous people came into being in the 1960s during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

The objective was to ensure diversity in the classroom, but conservatives constantly criticized affirmative action as reverse discrimination. The Supreme Court decided in 1978 that entrance exam processes that established racial quotas were unconstitutional but determined that race could be included in the selection criteria.

In the latest case, a conservative group challenged Harvard University and similar schools on the grounds that their affirmative action programs discriminated against Asian students who were excluded from the process.

The Supreme Court, where six of the nine justices form a conservative majority, held that affirmative action violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

Racial discrimination and ethnic disparity are evident in American society. Data from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board show that average income levels for Black and Latino households are about half that of white households. There is a connection between economic disparity and educational inequality. The Supreme Court determined that taking steps to reduce this inequality are unfair.

States that have banned affirmative action in the past have seen a decrease in the enrollment of new Black students. Businesses and the military also use race-based selection criteria in employment and promotion decisions. Disavowing this long-standing system exerts a profound influence on U.S. society.

Diversity is the source of America’s vitality. The question of how diversity and fairness coexist in a multiethnic country is a challenge. At the same time, correcting for discrimination and disparity is essential.

Even so, the Supreme Court’s decisions have been more noticeably conservative. The day after the court ruled against affirmative action, it decided in favor of a business owner who refused to take a job related to same-sex marriage for religious reasons and decided against student loan relief, which affects many young people. Last year, the court shocked the world by overturning the constitutional protection of the right to seek an abortion.

If the court makes decisions on a partisan basis, it will lose the people’s trust and fan the flames of social conflict. We must not overlook the concepts of justice and neutrality.