Opinion and Commentary By Donna Westfall – June 3, 2023
Being raised in Los Angeles public school during the 1950’s and 1960’s meant Blacks, Whites, Asians and Hispanics were all going to school together and formed friendships. At that time, I didn’t know any Arabs or Middle Eastern students.
Many of us graduated and went on to college or got jobs. President John F. Kennedy was in the White House and we were proud….. and scared during the Cuban missile crisis. Can’t help but chuckle when they told us to get under our wooden desks in the event of a nuclear strike. Like that would work.
De-segregation was happening although with a pretty rough start particularly in the Southern states.
On March 6, 1961 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which included a provision that government contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” But in reality more often than not, Blacks were given jobs based on their race over more qualified that were not Black. That did not bode well and what resulted was animosity.
And, not just government jobs. Look at the college and university admissions. Asians and Whites were being turned away in favor of Blacks and Browns. More animosity.
Credit: @RitaPanahiThis translates into a 140-point SAT penalty for Asians. It’s astounding they didn’t fight this earlier.
Perhaps this picture explains it more clearly. (Based on seven highly selective universities)
WHAT DID THE CASES BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT CONCLUDE?
There were two cases:
University of North Carolina (UNC) and Harvard.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that affirmative action policies at UNC and Harvard that consider a student’s race for college admissions are unconstitutional based on the 14th Amendment:
the 14th Amendment: Passed by the Senate on June 8, 1866, and ratified two years later, on July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States,” including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws.”
The 14th Amendment provides three protections:
1.procedural due process (in civil and criminal proceedings);
2. substantive due process; and
3. as the vehicle for the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.
The vote was 6-3 in the UNC case and 6-2 in the Harvard case in which liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was recused.
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