Editorial: Court got it right on affirmative action

Affirmative action is not a positive way to achieve diversity in colleges. The American people shouldn’t be accepted into college based on the color of their skin, especially when it lets some unworthy students into colleges and holds back other worthy students in the name of diversity.

In 2003, the Supreme Court made a controversial ruling in favor of affirmative action. This gave colleges the power to use race as a factor in admissions. The decision was met with uncertainty. Everyone agrees that college admissions should be equal, but the court’s decisions vary between right and left leaning justices. 

Most members of The Olympian staff believe affirmative action creates an unjust and unequal environment based on skin color.

Then this year, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action in a 6-3 vote. The decision addressed Harvard and the University of North Carolina, ruling that their race-based admissions systems are unlawful.

“Many universities have for too long… concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges built, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice,”stated Chief Justice John Roberts. A fair admissions practice is when all people of any race, gender, ethnicity, etc. are given an equal chance to achieve a higher education.

We at The Olympian believe affirmative action gives some an unfair advantage instead of creating equal opportunity for all.

States including California, Idaho, Michigan, Washington, and more had already banned affirmative action for higher education. Leaving an equal playing field for applicants for people of color and those who are not, while also increasing the importance of academic achievements and activism. Admissions should be based on what you achieve being who you are, which can include an ethnic background and culture, but should not be solely based on the color of someone’s skin.

Diversity has become an integral part of the American school system of today; basing someone’s education on something so uncontrollable is not a sustainable attempt at upholding this melting pot. 

“Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping and lack meaningful endpoints,” said Roberts.