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Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

latimes.com

121–130 of 1001 posts

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#121
post #69
post #28

I would like to see lotteries used for this type of thing, because they would be much easier to accept. You could have 10% or 20% percent of candidates chosen by lottery, or have a lottery for all candidates who have the minimum pre-requisites, etc. Some sort of randomness whould guarantee a diversity of candidates and would even span across dimensions which are not even considered currently.

[flagged]

There's a lot of "blank slate" thinking and "meritocracy" is now bad.

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#122
post #98
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with legislation via judicial branch being a bad idea. However, affirmative action isn't legislation. This is judicial review striking down policy (executive branch interpretation and implementation of legislation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/af...

Judicial review has upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action policies for 40+ years, what changed is the composition of the Supreme Court and its related willingness to legislate from the bench -- abandoning stare decisis and judicial restraint. We saw this with Roe last year.

Regardless of whatever the political currents are, it's sensible policy to strike down every pseudo law that doesn't have legislative backing of some kind.

If they only selectively struck them down in favor of one group or another, then that would be a different matter.

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#123
post #98
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with legislation via judicial branch being a bad idea. However, affirmative action isn't legislation. This is judicial review striking down policy (executive branch interpretation and implementation of legislation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/af...

Judicial review has upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action policies for 40+ years, what changed is the composition of the Supreme Court and its related willingness to legislate from the bench -- abandoning stare decisis and judicial restraint. We saw this with Roe last year.

Agree except for the "willingness to legislate" changing.

That's been in place for a LONG time, it dates all the way back to the separation of church and state decision being based on a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote.

Hell Roe v. Wade itself is an example.

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t love the decision, but I actually like the process. And I don’t think it is legislating. It is interpreting the law. I’d like term limits on Supreme Court justices. But I think the arguments on both sides of this debate are well thought out. Again I don’t love the decision, but Im OK with it. That said I’d love to see universities stop giving weight to legacies. But the money is just too strong.

When a neoconservative spends his life petitioning courts for this exact result instead of petitioning anyone in congress... it feels like dirty legislating. Part of it is because our congress is dreadfully inept.

Congress has more important issues to deal with, such as making it illegal to participate in any programs involving extraterrestrial craft without notifying Congress

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think you didn’t belong? I know a lot of white and Asian MIT grads and only one had perfect SAT scores. And several were valedictorian, but I’m not sure it was the majority. Curious how often you wonder if the white people you work with had an advantage by not being historically discriminated against? Probably never. And rightfully so. If people do wonder then that’s on them. There’s a lot of dumb stuff pe…

He wonders because there’s been systemic sustained racial discrimination for the benefit of people of his race. It’s one of the insidious and corrosive ways affirmative action undermines the accomplishments of its potential beneficiaries.

Do white people in general feel that way because of systemic sustained racial discrimination for their benefit?

I get what you’re saying, but racial discrimination has worked against Latinos and Blacks for so long and in so many facets of life — you don’t find it odd that this singular event of college admissions trumps everything else?

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#126
post #98
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with legislation via judicial branch being a bad idea. However, affirmative action isn't legislation. This is judicial review striking down policy (executive branch interpretation and implementation of legislation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/af...

Judicial review has upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action policies for 40+ years, what changed is the composition of the Supreme Court and its related willingness to legislate from the bench -- abandoning stare decisis and judicial restraint. We saw this with Roe last year.

Some of the original Supreme Court cases upholding these policies went so far as to say that in the future, these exact things should be revisited because they were trying to bandage over decades of institutional racism.

https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/publications/w...

> In her opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor concluded that affirmative action in college admissions is justifiable, but not in perpetuity: “We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest [in student body diversity] approved today.”

There are lots of criticisms of the SC, but I don't see why everything they rule should be absolute ground truth forever. They can (and do) revisit cases for good reason.

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#127

As someone of Hispanic descent this is very interesting to me. Affirmative Action probably helped my father, whose father was a construction worker and mother a homemaker both of whom dropped out of high school, get into college and ultimately become a doctor. But because my father was a doctor, I had a fairly privileged upbringing. I'm a generation removed, but growing up in California always had to indicate my back…

Hah this mirrors my life & experience to a T! [1] I had other "high-achieving" kids at my school be sour grape-y about the MIT thing, saying I only got in because I was Mexican. On the one hand, it probably helped. On the other, I was imo clearly a cut above them academically.

I've never really had an identity crisis about it though. I'm white, but I'm also Mexican. The majority of my extended family is Mexican (I basically have no extended family on any maternal branches). But I wasn't raised to speak Spanish and in general had a pretty generic white American upper-middle-class upbringing. Both are parts of who I am and neither deserves shame or uplifting.

[1] Except while I got into MIT, I did not go (went to my very good in-state school - whole other topic + I am very happy with the outcome.)

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#128
post #98
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with legislation via judicial branch being a bad idea. However, affirmative action isn't legislation. This is judicial review striking down policy (executive branch interpretation and implementation of legislation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/af...

Judicial review has upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action policies for 40+ years, what changed is the composition of the Supreme Court and its related willingness to legislate from the bench -- abandoning stare decisis and judicial restraint. We saw this with Roe last year.

[dead]

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Double-digit increases of Asian students at top tier universities, primarily coming from decreases of nonwhite students. Probably a modest reverse version of that at the lower tier universities. Love the policy change or hate it, that’s what’s likely to happen.

>primarily coming from decreases of nonwhite students. Asians aren’t White.

They are when trying to prove that minorities on the whole are discriminated against.

Re: Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action in college admissions

#130
post #69
post #28

I would like to see lotteries used for this type of thing, because they would be much easier to accept. You could have 10% or 20% percent of candidates chosen by lottery, or have a lottery for all candidates who have the minimum pre-requisites, etc. Some sort of randomness whould guarantee a diversity of candidates and would even span across dimensions which are not even considered currently.

[flagged]

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