SCOTUS to take up AA cases for Harvard/UNC

[politicallefty]

I've long believed affirmative action violates the Equal Protection Clause. That doesn't mean I don't believe racism is nonexistent or that systemic racism isn't still a major problem. I think affirmative action is the result of laziness on the part of the political branches. School funding schemes across the country routinely favour suburbs that are mostly white, while minority-dominated schools in the cities are routinely underfunded and neglected. I admit that oversimplifies the issue, but it notes one of the biggest problems.

I think one of the above posts got it right. It's not an issue most Americans care about strongly, but one that has drifted rightward. Almost all conservatives are against it, but it's a position that has pulled in a lot of liberals as well (including myself). Even as California has moved significantly to the left since 1996, the effort to reestablish affirmative action went down in a worse defeat in 2020 than the original initiative that banned it.

With that said, some of the measures used to counteract racism probably aren't working as intended. I'm not sure holistic admissions are working as intended. Those measures largely include extracurriculars, athletics, community service, and so on. Those largely benefit affluence, particularly affluent whites. The ultimate problem really is that the root of the issue is not being tackled. While it is up to the courts to determine that which violates the Constitution, the remedy must ultimately be determined by the political branches.