What do you think the US Supreme Court will decide regarding the current cases for affirmative action in college admissions?

They will overturn all affirmative action programs.

The way the SCOTUS is going, the only permissible criterion for getting into college will be church attendance.

I expect it to be ended.

Affirmative action has been a right-wing target for decades. Now that they (right wing justices) cheated their way to a majority, it’s history. Remember – the white man gets what the white man wants.

I think it will be overturned. Even “wacky liberal” California has rejected re-instating it as recently as 2020.

The schools could develop a system where the people approving the applications don’t know the name of the student or where they went to high school.

Schools like Harvard seem to spend a lot of effort trying to be diversified, I doubt that will change. They also let in legacy, which I think is one of the problems with the Ivy Leagues.

4 Justices are a lock for overturning. 3 are white men, one is a handmaiden.
Thomas, who is the most conservative Justice, will probably join them, just because he has no problem making crazy ass law.

The oral arguments do seem to indicate that an overturning is coming. One of the issues for the conservatives was when the “end date” for affirmative action will be. The defenders of affirmative action were not able to say when it will no longer be needed.

I guess it would depend on what the arguments were. If those in favor of affirmative action cite scare tactics without facts to back them up (“without affirmative action, racial discrimination will run rampant!”) the courts will rule against them. The Constitution recognizes that all men are created equal. There have been numerous laws put into place to prevent or attempt to prevent racial discrimination. Affirmative action is, by its very nature, racist. It favors one race over others. Racism is not aligned with the Constitution so it really should be looked at closely.

@seawulf575 This is false: ”...Affirmative action is, by its very nature, racist. It favors one race over others.”

Given the history of denying admission on the basis of race, affirmative action was an attempt at redressing longstanding wrongs that continue to persist. And it does not favor one race over others, but prevents disfavoring oppressed minorities.

Harvard and other schools had maximum acceptance rates for African Americans Native Americans, and Jews for many decades. Affirmative action is designed to overcome maximums that structure discrimination.

What would be the most unconstitutional outcome?

@zenvelo I understand why affirmative action started and what it was attempting to do. But it is racist. In some cases it has pushed the pendulum the other way. Gratz v Michigan is an example. Any time you do something strictly on the basis of race, it is racist. The intent was good, the act is racist.

On the news, they said the decisions on the two affirmative action cases before the Supreme Court will be handed down around June 2023.

^^Thanks!

Asian superkids will flood the Ivy Leagues, then white parents will complain again (unless their kids are superkids too).

That’s kind of perpetuating the model minority myth. It’s not so much that they’re superkids. It’s more that culturally, they’re just pushed way harder.

I had a friend in high school who had a “study room” where he would have to go into after school and wasn’t allowed to leave until his homework was completed to satisfaction. His dad used to also beat him and his brother for poor grades. :(

Not to mention that “Asian” needs to be desegregated to be truly equitable.

The push is insane. There’s homework, tutoring, test prep. Kids in Palo Alto have been know to succumb to the pressures and walk onto train tracks with oncoming trains. But the ones who succeed earn incredible scores. Schools that accept based on numbers will have their mean acceptance scores pushed up. That will push out “normal” kids who are at the bottom of that (distorted) curve.
The thing is that families that push have financial luxury – they can afford the private schools, tutoring, test prep. And the kids don’t have to work. So yet another advantage they have over “normal” kids.

I feel like that push to overschedule kids is more delineated among socioeconomic lines than racial lines. Partly pressure. But also more common when both parents are working.

Kids from wealthy families (of whatever racial mix) at the $30K per year high school in my neighborhood + kids from families going to public school (mostly Asian) in the Cupertino school district near my neighborhood. No one in my neighborhood (mixed) who go to our local public school ever talks about tutoring or test prep.

When the Supreme Court first allowed affirmative action, it was clear that they intended it to be a temporary measure to right a historical wrong, and that, when society was ready, it should be done away with. It’s pretty hard to see the current court do anything but the simple “the time is now” assessment, and go ahead with removing affirmative action in most cases.

Regarding universities I’ve leaned towards getting rid of affirmative action over the last 15 years, but it really needs to be paired with more equality in education K-12. I think most universities will still seek to be diverse, but it won’t surprise me if some schools will be less diverse after the ruling.

The troubling thing about the timing of these affirmative action cases is the other cases being brought at the same time, like Roe. Plus, the funding of far right politicians to run in elections, and the overall direction is imposible to ignore. The funding is from uber-religious fanatics who are turning the country into a third world theocracy. They outright say their goal is to put religion in government, prevent immigration, maintain what they call “white culture” and they sell it as equality and helping minorities.