An additional (and stronger, IMO) argument against affirmative action was presented by Justice Thomas himself in his dissent in Grutter v. Bollinger (the case the Court is considering overruling here) (emphasis added):
It is uncontested that each year, the Law School admits a handful of blacks who would be admitted in the absence of racial discrimination. (internal cite omitted). Who can differentiate between those who belong and those who do not? The majority of blacks are admitted to the Law School because of discrimination, and because of this policy all are tarred as undeserving. This problem of stigma does not depend on determinacy as to whether those stigmatized are actually the “beneficiaries” of racial discrimination. When blacks take positions in the highest places of government, industry, or academia, it is an open question today whether their skin color played a part in their advancement. The question itself is the stigma—because either racial discrimination did play a role, in which case the person may be deemed “otherwise unqualified,” or it did not, in which case asking the question itself unfairly marks those blacks who would succeed without discrimination."
An additional (and stronger, IMO) argument against affirmative action was presented by Justice Thomas himself in his dissent in Grutter v. Bollinger (the case the Court is considering overruling here) (emphasis added):
ReplyDeleteIt is uncontested that each year, the Law School admits a handful of blacks who would be admitted in the absence of racial discrimination. (internal cite omitted). Who can differentiate between those who belong and those who do not? The majority of blacks are admitted to the Law School because of discrimination, and because of this policy all are tarred as undeserving. This problem of stigma does not depend on determinacy as to whether those stigmatized are actually the “beneficiaries” of racial discrimination. When blacks take positions in the highest places of government, industry, or academia, it is an open question today whether their skin color played a part in their advancement. The question itself is the stigma—because either racial discrimination did play a role, in which case the person may be deemed “otherwise unqualified,” or it did not, in which case asking the question itself unfairly marks those blacks who would succeed without discrimination."