Judgment Day Appears Close for Affirmative Action
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 3 November 2022
⏱️ 41 minutes
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Summary
This week, the Supreme Court heard two cases—against Harvard and U.N.C.—that may very well bring about the end of affirmative action at American colleges and universities. The practice rests on the Fourteenth Amendment: equal protection under the law. But the conservative John Roberts court is reëvaluating what “equal protection” really means, raising the idea that current methods of affirmative action are actually a thinly veiled form of racism. Jeannie Suk Gersen, a New Yorker contributing writer and a professor at Harvard Law School, was in attendance for Monday’s oral arguments. She joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss whether a more holistic admissions process is the best way to create diversity, and whether diversity is really the best ideal for universities to aspire to.
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| 1:11.7 | We will hear argument first this morning in case 21707, students for fair admissions versus |
| 1:17.8 | the University of North Carolina. |
| 1:20.5 | Welcome to the political scene. I'm Tyler Foggett, a senior editor at The New Yorker. |
| 1:25.7 | Mr. Park, I've heard the word diversity quite a few times, and I don't have a clue what it means. |
| 1:33.8 | It seems to mean everything for everyone. |
| 1:37.8 | This week, the Supreme Court heard two cases, against Harvard and UNC, that may very well bring |
| 1:43.1 | about the end of affirmative action at American |
| 1:45.2 | colleges and universities. The practice rests on the 14th Amendment, equal protection under the law. |
| 1:52.2 | But the conservative Roberts Court is reevaluating what equal protection really means, |
| 1:56.8 | raising the idea that current methods of affirmative action are actually a thinly-billed form of racism. |
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