Examining the Controversy: Race-Conscious Admissions at the University Level

"Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization." -- Mahatma Gandhi, 1925

Image courtesy of Unsplash

Two months after the Supreme Court issued a monumental decision to end affirmative action and ban any consideration of race in college admissions, people are still processing just what this all means, and many are left reeling from its repercussions.  

Just yesterday, the threads of an increasingly heated discussion on this topic floated through my classroom door. 

“Mrs. Perkins, why is it that you people get special privilege in college admissions?”

(I could only imagine the look she shot at him at that point because his tone changed dramatically with his rephrased question.)

He tried again. “Sorry. Why is it that Blacks have privilege when it comes to applying for college?”

Jill Perkins replied, “Privilege? Privilege? What are you talking about? When I went to the University of Georgia, African-Americans made up 5% of the total student population. Five per cent! How do you think that lines up with the Black population in Georgia? It didn’t then, and it doesn’t now!”

“Um, I’m not sure, but really Blacks should never represent more than 13% of college student populations. ”

I think his next comment was something about how she had a better chance of getting into Harvard than he did, but I’m not completely sure because she marched him right out of her room with that one.  

Jill and the student, Mark, have a unique dynamic.  Jill, my African American colleague, often engages in open conversation with Mark, who is white. She answers his surprisingly bold questions and challenges many of the beliefs he shares with her. 

She is convinced he is kind-hearted, but misguided on issues of race, most likely stemming from many conversations in his home. 

A divided Supreme Court found that the consideration of race for admissions into both Harvard and the University of North Carolina “cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause” of the 14th Amendment, originally designed to offer protection to newly freed slaves. 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor offered a dissenting opinion: “Today, this Court stands in the way and rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress . . . [and] cements a superficial rule of colorblindness as a constitutional principle in an endemically segregated society where race has always mattered and continues to matter.”

What Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas failed to “reconcile” in their decision is how the lack of diversity on campuses like the University of Georgia stands in direct contradiction to our state demographics. (By the way, as of 2021, UGA’s Black student population was 6.6% - not much change since Mrs. Perkins’ days in the early 1990s.)

What they failed to consider is that a homogenous student body in higher education does nothing to prepare graduates for work in an increasingly diverse workforce. 

Image courtesy of Unsplash

What they also failed to take into account is the lack of economic growth experienced by Black Americans because of oppressive laws and policies including “redlining,” which was the literal drawing of a red line around neighborhoods with large numbers of African-Americans (and Jewish, Italian, and Polish residents, too). 

Areas within the red lines were deemed “risky” investments and many banks and mortgage companies refused to offer government-backed loans to potential homeowners. 

This practice occurred in over 200 cities across the country beginning in the 1930s and allegedly ending in 1968. But the effects are far-reaching. Denied access to the biggest financial assets most of us will ever own, many African-Americans of the mid-20th century ended up with no houses to pass down to their children and, thus, no means of creating generational wealth. The Justices have clearly forgotten the lessons of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun; the dream deferred can, and often does, lead to disastrous consequences. 

Another student stumbled upon the conversation between Mark and Mrs. Perkins. Walker, a white student who comes from four generations of University of Tennessee alumni, said that he may opt out of family tradition and choose a college that better reflects the diversity he’s going to encounter in the workplace. 

In the midst of the controversy, Walker searched the demographics of UT and couldn’t even bring himself to share aloud the percentage of Black students on campus. I’m assuming it’s even worse than UGA’s statistics. 

An additional piece of the puzzle: issues of race in college admissions apply to other groups as well. Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard claimed that Harvard had applied stricter standards for admissions for Asian American students, resulting in a lower likelihood of entrance compared to their white, Latinx, and Black counterparts. 

“Race has always mattered and continues to matter.” How can it not? Embracing a “color blind” philosophy to college admissions and all of our interpersonal relationships denies key, fundamental pieces of our humanity. 

We have precious few means to correct historical injustices; examining race for college admissions is just one way to level the playing field for minorities and other underrepresented groups. 

Perhaps the term “race-based” admissions should be replaced with “race-conscious” decisions because “race has always mattered and continues to matter.” Our diversity is key to our rich and varied culture, heritage, and future. 

This article was originally published September 16, 2023, in the Southern Spice section of Times-Georgian.