The Non-Prophets

The Non-Prophets, Episode 22.29.2 featuring Cynthia McDonald, Aaron Jensen and Teo el Ateo

How The End Of Affirmative Action Reroutes The Talent PipelineForbes, By Corinne Lestch, July 9, 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/corinnelestch/2023/07/09/how-the-end-of-affirmative-action-reroutes-the-talent-pipeline/?sh=518ad1495886

Clarence Thomas Wins Long Game Against Affirmative Action Bloomberg Law, By Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, June 29, 2023,https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4073736-thomas-in-rare-occurrence-reads-affirmative-action-opinion-from-bench/
Supreme Court Decision https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf

“In the decades since, I have repeatedly stated that Grutter was wrongly decided and should be overruled. Today, and despite a lengthy interregnum, the Constitution prevails,” - Justice Clarence Thomas.
Recently the Supreme Court decided that affirmative action is no longer constitutional because it ruled that it violates the 14th Amendment which states that there should be no laws that restrict people based on color or their race.
What had made the 14th amendment relevant was it’s attempt to even the playing field among all constituents in the United States when it came to them being able to get employment and for them to be able to go to school but that is not what happened.
Even though black people were citizens and paying taxes they did not have access to the same facilities as their white counterparts. Plessy vs Ferguson (a decision made in the 1800’s) allowed schools to be funded separately.
In most black neighborhoods, especially in the south, there were substandard school buildings, and children in the sixth and seventh grade that were provided books from second and third grade. Plessy was used to uphold Jim Crow and specifically segregation laws saying that separate but equal was okay.
The modern Civil Rights Movement really started to take a new form after the death of Emmett Till. Black rights activists like Dr. King, Malcolm X, Philip Randolph, Ralph Abernathy, and James Baldwin were all a part of this movement.
The Movement wasn't necessarily pushing for integration they were just pushing for equal facilities. One of the reasons being is when they started to integrate the schools black students faced violence from white mobs, white students, and parents who were vehemently trying to keep black students out.
Ultimately, Thurgood Marshall argued before the US Supreme Court in the Brown vs the Board of Education case. The court overturned Plessy vs Ferguson by ruling against the Board of Education and Marshall later became the first black Justice on the court.
This helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which allowed Affirmative action. Which required organizations to select people with more diverse backgrounds. It was not limited to black people, it helped any person that was considered a minority. The data has shown that white women have been one of the groups that happened to benefit greatly from affirmative action.
Affirmative action has caused schools to make more of an attempt to recruit students who actually had the grades and merit but may not have gotten into a particular school like a Harvard because of their minority status.
When the Court’s decision was released, Justice Thomas took the unusual step of actually reading from his own concurring opinion. Something not typically done, but this has been a goal of his for decades. For a Justice who is known for saying nothing for years, it is not unlike him to take a victory lap.
It's interesting to specifically question how Justices like Clarence Thomas really would want to go back to a colorblind Constitution when in actuality the Constitution was never colorblind.