On October 31st, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases involving race-based

admissions in higher education, one involving Harvard University and the other involving the

University of North Carolina.

We begin this half hour with a new challenge to affirmative action policies on college

campuses.

The Supreme Court is now preparing to hear arguments in two major cases that could affect student admissions.

The cases involve race-based affirmative action at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

Asian and white students allege that policy prioritizes black, Hispanic, and Native American students, which discriminates against them.

Any shift when the justices hear the cases later this year would set a new legal precedent.

If the suits are successful, colleges and universities may no longer be able to use race as a factor in the admissions process.

Spoiler alert. The court will almost certainly rule in favor of the plaintiffs.

In practical terms, that means that affirmative action will cease to exist when the court will almost certainly rule in favor of the plaintiffs. In practical terms,

that means that affirmative action will cease to exist when the court lays down its decision in June.

But don't change the channel yet. The story of these two cases is about more than affirmative action.

It's about some of the most fraught questions our country has faced since the end of slavery.

Questions like, what are the present effects of past discrimination?

Is it necessary and proper for the government to distinguish between racial groups to undo racial

inequities? Are we willing as a society to discriminate against one group, in Harvard's case,

Asian Americans, to help another? And if not, what's our individual institutional institutional, and governmental responsibility to address those effects?

But before we tackle those questions, let's talk about affirmative action itself.

There is no doubt that you've heard this term before many times, but what does it mean?

We took to the streets to ask New Yorkers if they knew.

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