September 16, 2020
A federal appeals court in Boston will hear arguments Wednesday, September 16, in the case which claims Harvard University racially discriminates against Asian-American applicants in undergraduate admissions, according to GBH.
In October 2019, Obama appointed U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs ruled Harvard does not racially discriminate against Asian-Americans. Even after an internal study Harvard conducted from 1995 to 2013 showed Asian-American applicants outclassed every racial group applying to the school.
Harvard’s admissions process was cited as a model in the Bakke decision of the Supreme Court in 1978. As a result, the admissions process has widely been replicated at selective private schools across the US, which makes the stakes much higher if Harvard eventually loses this case.
Burroughs’ October 2019 decision in favor of Harvard cited 42 years of precedents that allow admissions officials to consider race as one of many factors when admitting students, according to GBH.
“For purpose of this case, at least for now, ensuring diversity at Harvard relies, in part, on race-conscious admissions,” Burroughs wrote. Harvard’s admissions process “passes constitutional muster in that it satisfies the dictates of strict scrutiny.”
In Judge Burroughs’ decision, she quoted author Toni Morrison, saying “race is the least reliable information you can have about someone.”
UCLA Law Professor Rick Sander stated “What Harvard is doing is exactly what Toni Morrison says we shouldn’t do. It’s essentially defining an application in terms of race.” Prof. Sander also filed a lawsuit against the University of California system seeking admissions data to find out if admissions officers secretly considered race in admissions, which is illegal in California after affirmative action was banned in 1996. Democrat funded Prop. 16 is trying to repeal California’s ban on affirmative action this coming November.
This lawsuit or the entire notion of affirmative action has caused deep divisions within the Asian-American community. Some believe Asians should take a “knee” and allow African-Americans and Latinos to take their places in higher education in the name of social recompense. Others believe merit should rule the day, regardless of race or past offenses.
The most dangerous are the Asian-Americans who have become very bitter systemic racism is “excused” when it comes to them and have openly voiced their opinions.
“On the bright side, America is already falling behind in STEM, affirmative action in will only cause them to fall further behind. It will be my people [Asian] who will rule the future. When these people finally build their own car, I’ll hover over with my flying Lexus and take a dump on their Model T,” one Asian wrote.
“This new America has shown no loyalty to me and lectures to me how I need to sacrifice my dreams for others. I hope every American company fails in the future. I’m going to masturbate to that 2008 clip of Ford, Chrysler and GM CEOs begging for bailout money like the broke, affirmative action whores that they are,” another passionate commentator wrote.
Feature Image via GBH