Facially Neutral, Racially Biased

The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in two of the most important cases involving racial preferences in recent memory.¹ Both involve race-based admissions programs that discriminate against Asian American applicants at two of the best universities in the world: Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The Court’s decisions will affect more than just the admissions policies at Harvard and unc. And yet most commentators—both those who support race-based admissions and those who oppose them—incorrectly assume that Supreme Court decisions against Harvard and unc will end racial preferences once and for all. Instead, the unreasoning commitment of schools and college administrators to the ideal of diversity presages massive resistance to any unfavorable decisions and decades of trench warfare in the courts. Read Full Article »