House

Affirmative action ruling sharply divides Dems, GOP

by Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell - 06/29/23 1:26 PM ET

Thursday’s extraordinary Supreme Court decision to banish race as a factor in college admissions is sharply dividing the parties on Capitol Hill, where Democrats denounced the ruling as a blow to civil rights and Republicans hailed it as a long overdue step toward a colorblind culture.

The divergent responses came as no surprise.

Democrats have long supported affirmative action as a crucial, if imperfect, effort to rectify the centuries of race-based injustice that practically defined much of the country’s history, when Black people were denied basic rights.

Republicans, meanwhile, have attacked the concept of race-based admissions as outdated and inherently discriminatory, undermining a purely merit-based education system and denying opportunities to other groups of students in the process.

Those dueling arguments were on full display Thursday morning, when both sides wasted no time weighing in on the high court’s historic decision.

“The Supreme Court just ruled that no American should be denied educational opportunities because of race,” said Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). “Now students will be able to compete based on equal standards and individual merit. This will make the college admissions process fairer and uphold equality under the law.”

“The Supreme Court ruling has put a giant roadblock in our country’s march toward racial justice,” countered Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). “The Court’s misguided decision reminds us how far we still have to go to ensure that all Americans are treated equally.”

More on the Supreme Court’s ruling from The Hill

The ruling — and the spirited reaction from both sides — highlights the stark differences between the parties when it comes to issues of racial equality and the role of government in working to ensure it. That clash has been front-and-center in recent congressional debates over police brutality, voting rights, immigration policy and criminal justice reform, to name a few.

But perhaps none of those feature race as explicitly as the issue of affirmative action, the practice of addressing historic discrimination by giving certain preferences to the groups that were discriminated against. And Thursday’s decision prompted an especially fierce outcry from members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have long championed the program as a necessary effort to right historical wrongs — and the lingering inequality that stems from them.

“Predominately white institutions have historically barred Black and brown people from accessing higher education,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said. “Affirmative action continues to help level an uneven playing field.”

“The court has turned a blind eye to systemic racism and has failed to uphold our nation’s values of diversity, equity and inclusion,” echoed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in the country’s history. “All students deserve a fair shot at going to college, regardless of their income, home town or their racial and ethnic background.”

Republicans view race-based admissions very differently, arguing that rather than fighting discrimination, affirmative action policies instead act to promote it.

“For decades, the Court turned a blind eye as higher education prioritized illegal social engineering over merit,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “Today’s rulings make clear that colleges may not continue discriminating against bright and ambitious students based on the color of their skin.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) delivered a similar message, saying affirmative action acts “to put students in a box.”

“It discredits the hard work and diverse backgrounds that countless applicants have, and requires colleges to value one single characteristic above others,” she tweeted. “This is wrong and un-American.”

The partisan split over race-based admissions is not unique to Capitol Hill. Recent polls show a similarly clear divide among voters who claim a party affiliation. One such survey, released this month by the Pew Research Center, found that 74 percent of voters who are Republican or lean Republican disapprove of affirmative action programs, while 54 percent of Democrats, or those leaning Democratic, support them.

In a highly anticipated verdict delivered on one of the last days of the court’s term, the bench’s six conservative justices ruled that admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did not comply with the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection, dealing a significant blow to collegiate affirmative action programs and upending decades of attempts at universities to increase diversity.

One of those conservatives, Justice Clarence Thomas, is getting particular attention following the ruling for his status as one of two African Americans on the court. In a rare reading from the bench, he predicted the decision would mark the end of affirmative action in higher education.

“The Court today makes clear that, in the future, universities wishing to discriminate based on race in admissions must articulate and justify a compelling and measurable state interest based on concrete evidence,” Thomas said. “Given the strictures set out by the Court, I highly doubt any will be able to do so.”

The decision arrives during a contentious moment for the Supreme Court, which is mired in controversy as two justices — Thomas and Samuel Alito — find themselves embroiled in ethics scandals that have sparked howls from Democrats.

One of those critics, Rep. Hank Johnson (Ga.), pointed out the ongoing ethics firestorm on Thursday, linking Thomas to Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor and real estate developer who provided the justice luxury trips and other perks free of charge. Thomas, who had not disclosed the trips, came under fire once they were reported publicly and denies any wrongdoing.

“Justice ‘Harlan Crow’ Thomas and five other MAGAs have just slammed the college doors on Black and Brown folks after declaring that we now live in a color-blind country,” Johnson said in a statement. “This judicial activism must be met with passage of my legislation to expand SCOTUS.”