'Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a a concurring opinion in Thursday’s historic affirmative action case that is one of the most important of his three decades on the nation’s highest Court.'
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a a concurring opinion in Thursday’s historic affirmative action case that is one of the most important of his three decades on the nation’s highest Court.
While agreeing with the majority’s decision Thursday to strike down the use of race in college admissions, which hurt Asian-American students in particular, Thomas explains that he wants to extend the same principle to all forms of affirmative action in America. “[A]ll forms of discrimination based on race—including so-called affirmative action—are prohibited under the Constitution,” he writes, adding that all have “pernicious effects.
“The earliest Supreme Court opinions to interpret the Fourteenth Amendment did so in colorblind terms,” Thomas notes. “Their statements characterizing the Amendment evidence its commitment to equal rights for all citizens, regardless of the color of their skin.” He then describes a new approach — “an ‘antisubordination’ view of the Fourteenth Amendment: that the Amendment forbids only laws that hurt, but not help, blacks.
He then attacks the idea that the Court should somehow trust universities to apply affirmative action policies fairly, noting there is no reason to defer to an “alleged discriminator.” “History has repeatedly shown “that purportedly benign discrimination may be pernicious, and discriminators may go to great lengths to hide and perpetuate their unlawful conduct.” There are always victims of even well-intentioned discrimination policies.
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