The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in late June against affirmative action. The highest Court in the United States ruled that both Harvard University and the University of North Carolina (UNC) will no longer be able to use race for their admissions processes. While the decision was mostly applauded by Republicans and generally criticized by Democrats, subsequent polls showed that citizens, particularly African Americans, positively received the ruling.
For example, polling conducted by The Washington Post and CBS News found that more than 6 in 10 Americans supported banning the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions. Along the same lines were the results of the ABC News poll, whose respondents approved the decision by a margin of 20 percentage points.
However, The Economist/YouGov poll found a striking fact: African-Americans favor the Supreme Court ruling. Indeed, 47% of African Americans surveyed said that “the race of the applicant should not be allowed to be taken into account among other factors,” which contrasted with 36% who were in favor and 17% who do not yet have an opinion on the matter.
In addition, the poll found that more African Americans were “strongly” in favor of the Court’s ruling versus 26% who disapproved just as strongly. The data is consistent with previous polls conducted by the Post, which also showed 47% against the use of race and ethnicity in college admissions.
The Court’s ruling
In two separate cases that reached the same conclusion, the conservative majority, comprised of John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, stood united in ruling that affirmative action on college campuses ran counter to 14th Amendment protections.
The final numbers were 6-3 for North Carolina (with Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting) and 6-2 for Harvard, as Jackson recused herself from the case due to her recent time at the university.
“While I am painfully aware of the social and economic ravages which have befallen my race and all who suffer discrimination, I hold out enduring hope that this country will live up to its principles so clearly enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States: that all men are created equal, are equal citizens, and must be treated equally before the law,” wrote the judge Clarence Thomas in his opinion, which he read aloud inside the courtroom.
“Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything—good or bad—that happens in their lives. A contrary, myopic worldview based on individuals’ skin color to the total exclusion of their personal choices is nothing short of racial determinism,” he added.
