The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling to strike down race-based admissions policies at U.S. colleges—also referred to as affirmative action policies—shows that Americans should be treated based on their character and their personal responsibility, not their race, according to two advocates who praised the decision.
“I’m elated. There’s no other way of saying it, it’s a big decision,” Kenny Xu, a board member of Students for Fair Admissions, told American Thought Leaders in a recent interview.
“This means that Americans can rest easy knowing that they will be treated based on the content of their character, not the color of their skin at a critical time of their life, which is college admissions,” Xu said.
“At least they will know that their race cannot play a factor for or against them, which is something they can’t control.”
Students for Fair Admissions is the plaintiff that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of in the cases against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. According to its website, the nonprofit group is comprised of people who “believe that racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”
Response to Harvard’s Statement
When asked about Harvard’s statement, which said it would comply with the high court’s ruling—including that colleges and universities “may consider in admissions decisions ‘an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise’”—Xu said he believes Harvard’s statement is “totally arrogant” and is “based on a misreading of the text.”
“If you actually look at the decision, Justice John Roberts specifically wrote [that] colleges cannot use race directly or indirectly in their decision [to admit students],” Xu said. “[Roberts] even said [that] an individual can write about his or her race or her experience with racial discrimination, but a college cannot use that experience as a justification for preferential treatment over another person who chose not to bring about the racial discrimination … So whatever Harvard chooses to do, they have to comply with the court’s ruling.”
By Jan Jekielek and Mimi Nguyen Ly
