Affirmative Action, Once More into the Breach

The US Supreme Court is currently deliberating on two cases about affirmative action in higher education.  The Harvard University case is called “Students for Fair Admissions v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.”  And the University of North Carolina case is called “Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina.”

The crux of the case is whether it’s constitutional to allow discrimination against someone based on race.  Most colleges boost the chances of black and Hispanic students to gain entry into a college by manipulating their profile in ways that do not reflect their academic achievement.  And by virtue of this boosting, they harm the chances of white and Asian candidates that are competing for these college admissions.

Now this has been looked at before.  Over the last fifty years various Supreme Court cases have admitted that affirmative action is unconstitutional.  But its practice has been justified as a temporary crutch to compensate for past injustices that discriminated against minorities.  However, fifty years is a pretty permanent “temporary.”  Could this be the Supreme Court that finally ends this unjust practice?  From what I’ve read a decision is expected in the next six weeks.  Some leftist think tanks believe that the court is poised to throw out affirmative action.  Well, I hope they’re right but I’m not all that confident.

Let’s review.  John Roberts is a hopeless liberal.  Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have proven unreliable on occasion so it’s a complete crapshoot.  What is certain is that the latest case will answer the question whether there’s any hope at all of this court providing justice on constitutional grounds for such things as freedom of speech, freedom of association and other constitutional rights that have been stolen from us by courts and the administrative state.

I’m pretty excited about this case regardless of its outcome.  Like so much of what has gone on over the last few years, this event will provide clarity about another facet of our world.  Like the fraudulent elections and the Justice Department lawfare against Donald Trump and the January 6^th defendants, each of these examples strips away another part of the façade that hides the reality of the American system of government.  There’s a liberating feeling that comes from seeing things as they actually are.  Surprisingly, instead of making someone feel powerless, seeing through these ruses gives one a feeling of power.  You feel much more in control.  These facades are like buoys in the ocean.  You know that there are dangerous rocks below the surface but because there is a marker, you can choose to avoid them.  It’s the fakes that you don’t know about that can do the real harm.

Well, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Roberts; do your worst.  In six weeks, we’ll find out just how awful you really are.  Put in those terms, I’m expecting the worst, so if I’m surprised, I can only be pleasantly surprised.  What has been pleasant was reading about Clarence Thomas’s cross-examination on the benefits of affirmative action.  Being a recipient of affirmative action, he knows exactly what it does and doesn’t do.  And he wasn’t buying any of the “research” that its defenders presented.  I at least know how his vote will be cast, for honesty and justice.