Affirmative action over?

While Congress has been busy debating and rejecting immigration bills, the Supreme Court has been equally busy in a quieter but perhaps just as racially charged issue. Today a "bitterly divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday issued what is likely to be a landmark opinion -- ruling that race cannot be a factor in the assignment of children to public schools" (see full CNN article or see Parents involved in community schools v. Seattle School Dist. #1) .

The gist of the ruling basically comes down to the fact that schools can not use race as a factor in accepting or denying a student to a school.

"School boards may pursue the goal of bringing together students of diverse backgrounds and races through other means, including strategic site selection of new schools;drawing attendance zones with general recognition of the demographics of neighborhoods; allocating resources for special programs; recruiting students and faculty in a targeted fashion; and tracking enrollments, performance, and other statistics by race." (see full ruling).

So basically, you can target a racial group and encourage them to apply, however when making the final decisions on acceptance to a school, you can not use race as a determination factor. Does anyone else find this odd?

"Reading his concurring opinion from the bench, the 70-year-old justice said, "This nation has a moral and ethical obligation to fulfill its historic commitment to creating an integrated society that ensures equal opportunity for all its children'" (CNN article). (equal opportunity meaning race can not be used as a factor in school acceptance). I have to admit what is most frustrating about that statement and the opinion of the majority of the supreme court is that the nation is not fulfilling it's commitment to create an integrated society that gives equal opportunity for all of its children. In many ways one could argue that our nation is becoming more segregated than it was 50 years ago. This ruling in my opinion almost suggests that there is no commitment.

What will be interesting to watch is how this ruling gets applied in real life. The case was brought by parents of High Schoolers, but the decision will ultimately have some huge implications for even colleges and universities.


Other sites commenting on this case:
North Western
Cornell Law