Should We Reassess the Grutter Decision?

George Leef

  • Article
  • January 27, 2010

In this week's Pope Center Clarion Call, I write about an essay by former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor in which she expresses some reservations about the Grutter decision in 2003 -- the decision that upheld the use of racial preferences by state universities.

She evidently is uncertain about the claimed "educational benefits" of "affirmative action." She ought to be. The evidence advanced by the "diversity" advocates was pathetically weak and the Court's majority swallowed it without the least bit of scrutiny. O'Connor doesn't know how right she is in suggesting that a future case should lead to reassessing Grutter.

But there is no reason why university officials should wait for another legal challenge. They are not obligated to engage in discriminatory admissions policies by Grutter and could reassess their policies at any time. If they chose to examine the matter carefully and objectively, I think the conclusion must be that racial preferences have little or no concrete benefits and work considerable harm.

Incidentally, the book in which O'Connor's essay appears seems to be lopsidedly pro-affirmative action. I don't yet have the book, but looking at the contents, I see nothing that looks the least bit skeptical. It's similar to the global warming agenda in that regard; the public must be led to believe that the question has been definitely settled.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....