Harvard University students during a demonstration in favor of affirmative action near the Supreme Court building in Washington on June 29, 2023. ANNA MONEYMAKER / AFP
The Supreme Court marks the end of an era in the contemporary history of the United States. By a decision both symbolic and heavy with consequences, published Thursday, June 29, the conservative majority of judges put an end to positive discrimination in universities. Since the 1960s, this system has aimed to promote diversity within these establishments, in particular for the benefit of blacks, in order to correct the systemic inequalities inherited from the country’s segregationist past. The American left fears that this rollback will lead to a significant drop in the number of black, Hispanic or other minority students on campus.
Between the six conservative magistrates and their three progressive colleagues, a rift has emerged. The former brandished the principle of equality between citizens, regardless of skin color. The latter anchored their reasoning in the reality of inequalities and racism, refusing to see them as mere ghosts of a bygone past. “Discrimination still exists in America”President Joe Biden repeated three in a row, in a solemn address at midday at the White House. “We can’t go back”he added, visibly irritated, posing as a champion of diversity, which is illustrated by his numerous appointments of federal judges from minorities.
After the end of abortion as a constitutional right, decided a year ago, the Supreme Court thus settles another very polarizing social debate, on which a majority of Americans have a critical opinion. The nine magistrates were to rule on two appeals against affirmative action measures at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, where they were accused of applying to the detriment of white students and students of Asian origin. The length of the final decision – more than 230 pages – testifies to the vehemence of the debates, where everyone wanted, for posterity, to leave their mark. Two magistrates even chose to read aloud the summary of their dissenting opinion.
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harsh words
Author of the majority opinion, Judge John Roberts believes that many universities “wrongly considered that the basis of a person’s identity was not their testing, skills acquired or lessons learned, but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate this choice”. However, the text provides for an exception for military academies, because of their “potentially distinct interests”.
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2023-06-29 22:39:35
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