The Fate of Affirmative Action

On October 31, 2022, the United States Supreme Court heard yet another case on affirmative action, policies designed to promote educational and job opportunities for minorities and women. By all accounts, this is at least the fourth or fifth time that issues associated with affirmative action have been argued in front of the court. These most recent arguments involve two similar but separate cases: Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. The topic? Whether taking race into consideration when determining college admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. While the ruling for these cases may not come down until 2023, the topic of affirmative action opens the door for us to consider race and ethnicity from a sociological perspective.

While many people use the concepts of race and ethnicity interchangeably, it is important to realize that they are not the same. In fact, the term “race” may not exist the way we tend to imagine. Historically, race was thought to be based on distinct biological differences between groups of people. A more recent understanding is that race is a socially constructed category of people based on real or perceived physical differences. The key part of this definition is that race is a social construct and a convoluted one at best. How one society views race or identifies races is not necessarily the same as another society. For example, African Americans who travel to African nations like Ghana or Nigeria are often surprised that they are not viewed as Black by indigenous Africans. Instead, they are viewed as Americans irrespective of their skin color. In America, the label of African American historically refers to people who were the descendants of the enslaved.

But in the 21^st century, millions of recent African immigrants live in the U.S. and, as such, rightly claim the identity of African Americans even though they are not descendants of the enslaved. Adding more confusion to the mix is the fact that labels based on skin tone don’t always convey the information they are assumed to convey. Fijian professional golfer VJ Singh is not considered Black even though his skin tone is darker than that of former President Barack Obama. President Obama’s mother was a White woman from Kansas, and his father was an African man from Kenya. Yet, Obama is considered the first Black President, not the first biracial President or a White President.

Next to race, we have ethnicity, social and cultural characteristics that set apart one group of people from another. This includes but is not limited to things like cuisine, language, religion, and rituals. People often erroneously believe that race and ethnicity automatically go hand in hand. For example, many folks assume that Irish people are White. Yet, there are thousands of Irish people who are Black. People also assume that all Japanese people are Asian in appearance and that Jewish people are predominantly Ashkenazi from Eastern Europe. The reality is that there are Black Japanese people and Black Ethiopian Jewish people. Regardless of their skin tone, their cultural characteristics, i.e., ethnicity, is like that of other Irish, Japanese, or Jewish people. The assumptions that we make about people based on their race or ethnicity often involve prejudice, a preconceived judgment or opinion of other people and races, and stereotypes, generalized opinions and impressions of individuals, groups, or social classes.

While affirmative action policies promote diversity, the recognition and respect of the different attributes of races and ethnicities, it is important to remember that these policies are not limited to race and ethnicity. Affirmative action has been foundational to the promotion of educational and job opportunities for women, regardless of race, since its inception in 1961. The intersectional nature of sex and gender with race and ethnicity makes policies like affirmative action particularly important in helping promote equal access for all.

This brings us back to the question before the Supreme Court about affirmative action. Why not eliminate any reference to race in college admissions? People of various races and ethnicities don’t exist in a vacuum but experience life and society as other people perceive them. President Obama knows his mother was White and he was raised by his White grandparents, but society sees him and responds to him as a Black man. The idea that ignoring or overlooking racial and ethnic differences promotes racial harmony leads to racial colorblindness and does nothing to address prejudice or promote true social equality.

While the decision of the Supreme Court may not be released for months, it is a worthwhile exercise to consider the possibility of the ruling going either way. The question we are left pondering is whether the society has progressed enough since the 1960s to give everyone equal access to education and job opportunities, whether a law exists requiring it or not.

Thompson is a co-owner of UITAC Publishing. UITAC’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable, and socially responsible online course materials.

Images used in this blog:

1. 1. “Supreme Court Building Outside” by Mathieu Landretti is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This image has not been altered.
   2. Photo by Clay Banks is licensed on Unsplash. This image has not been altered.
   3. “President Barack Obama” by Pete Souza is in the public domain.
   4. Photo by Sushil Nash is licensed on Unsplash. This image has not been altered.