The Supreme Court has rejected the consideration of race as a factor in colleges’ efforts to create a diverse student body. For decades, the court upheld race-based affirmative action in college admissions, most recently in a ruling in 2016. But in June, the court sided with challenges to admissions practices at Harvard, which was accused of discriminating against Asian Americans, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where plaintiffs argued that unfair preference was given to to Black, Native American and Hispanic students, putting white and Asian applicants at a disadvantage. Both universities defended their policies, citing past Supreme Court rulings in support of the use of race as a factor.
In this video, Retro Report looks at an important test case in 2003, when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor cast the crucial vote to uphold race-based admissions policies, despite her concerns about unintended consequences.
This video was released in collaboration with Pulitzer Center, The Hechinger Report and WCNY/PBS.
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