After the Supreme Court ruled against race-based admissions rules on Thursday, Democratic presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined the left in defending affirmative action.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court found that Harvard’s and North Carolina’s race-based admissions policies violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, respectively. Commentators and a presidential contender who have long maintained that the policies are racist and damage those they are meant to aid reacted quickly to Kennedy’s defense of the struck-down programs.
Regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw racial preferences in higher education, I can attest to the fact that many Americans share this view. However, this sentiment lacks necessary background information. On Thursday, Kennedy tweeted that racism’s self-perpetuating effects had reached a critical mass. “Affirmative action recognizes this and employs racial policies to counteract their effects.”
Then Kennedy said that “color-blind” admissions policies favor individuals from affluent backgrounds over those from less fortunate ones.
The Democrat argued that “color-blind” admissions policies wind up benefiting people who are already part of the privileged class. Those who were raised in comfortable, educational environments will have an advantage. Why don’t you bring in people who have been on the outside looking in?
In contrast to Kennedy’s stance on race-based admissions, Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has called for a “colorblind meritocracy.”
Despite what [Robert Kennedy Jr.] may think, affirmative action is not about ‘allowing in people who have been left out in the cold.’ That’s not right,” Ramaswamy argued. In contrast to popular belief, most black Harvard students are not sprung from slaves but rather are immigrants’ children. Giving preferential treatment to someone only because they resemble a victim is not a just solution. Instead of making the same mistakes again, Americans should support a meritocracy that does not discriminate based on race.
In response to Kennedy’s tweet, conservative pundit Dave Rubin wrote, “Respectfully Robert, and maybe this is why you’re still a Democrat, but you don’t cure past racism with current racism. Why would you want a tough, second-generation Asian whose parents overcame incredible odds to succeed in America?
Continuing the conversation in a subsequent tweet, Rubin wrote, “Many been questioning what makes [Kennedy] a Democrat. Unfortunately, I think we got our response.
Former co-host of The Hill’s “The Rising” podcast and current radio personality Kim Iversen also chimed in on Kennedy’s tweet.
Iversen argued that it was unacceptable to discriminate against Jews by saying that their character flaws made them unfit for admission. Claiming that Asian students are ‘weak in character’ such that only a select handful of them are admitted is likewise unacceptable. We all won with today’s decision to outlaw racism.