The American Civil Liberties Union is openly advocating for discrimination in college admissions.
In a statement on Monday, the group said it filed an amicus brief in two cases before the Supreme Court, Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard, and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, urging the continued allowance of colleges to consider race in the admissions process.
Students for Fair Admissions is suing Harvard and the University of North Carolina to prevent race from being a factor in the admissions process.
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 1, 2022
Not talking about race doesn’t erase discrimination — it ignores the ways that structural racial inequality impacts students.
All students deserve equitable access to higher education.
— ACLU (@ACLU) August 1, 2022
Along with @ACLU_Mass and @ACLU_NC, we are fighting to protect academic freedom and universities’ ability to grow a diverse student body.
In 2014, Students for Fair Admissions filed two lawsuits: one against Harvard, the nation’s oldest private university, and the other against UNC, the nation’s oldest public university. The lawsuits claimed that the schools’ admissions policies violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fourteenth Amendment because they discriminate against Asian American students applying for admission.
Title VI bars discrimination based on “race, color, or national origin” in any program that receives “federal financial assistance,” which would include both colleges. The Civil Rights Act was passed under the authority of Congress to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, one of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments that bans denying any individual “the equal protection of the laws.”
It was clear from the evidence that both universities blatantly discriminate in their admissions based on the students’ race. Members of certain minority groups—such as Hispanics and African Americans—are accepted with lower qualifications and lower academic credentials than other students, particularly Asian American students, who are being penalized for their high overall achievements in the academic arena.
In fact, Harvard is using many of the same techniques it used 100 years ago to discriminate against Jewish students. Harvard routinely gives Asian American students the lowest personal “character” and “fitness” ratings of any racial group. Such odious and offensive stereotyping is still considered acceptable in the admissions offices of many 21st-century American universities. (Heritage Foundation)
Not only is the practice "morally indefensible," it's also unpopular among Americans, the majority of whom don't want race to be a consideration at all, as Guy reported.
Twitter users called the ACLU's position openly racist.
The ACLU is openly advocating for the discrimination of Asian and white Americans.
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) August 2, 2022
Make no mistake, they’re NOT advocates for equality. https://t.co/TsuQZoCgLo
The ACLU is very proud of its racism. https://t.co/FZaN1AZhDx
— Marina Medvin ???? (@MarinaMedvin) August 2, 2022
BREAKING: The ACLU comes out in favor of racial discrimination for college admissions
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) August 2, 2022
Because to hell with white and Asian students I guess https://t.co/19p8PYwE91
I’m so old I remember when the ACLU was against racial discrimination. https://t.co/cDpdqp7b0U
— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) August 3, 2022
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