Harvard Beats Asian Americans
2nd October 2019
Roger Clegg translates for us.
The judge found, “Race is only intentionally considered as a positive attribute.” But if race is a positive attribute for favored groups, then does it not follow that it is a negative attribute for everyone else? Well, yes, the judge admits about 100 pages later, “Race conscious admissions will always penalize to some extent groups that are not being advantaged by the process.” So, sure, there is discrimination against Asian Americans, but it is not “undu[e]” or “disproportionate.”
Here’s a sociopolitical reality: If it’s legally accepted that racial discrimination in admissions is permissible if you do A-B-C and do not do 1-2-3, then universities will make those claims. And so the judge here explains at great length why she accepts Harvard’s assertions that its discrimination is narrowly tailored (A-B-C) and that she is persuaded by the school that the discrimination is not anti-Asian (vis-a-vis whites, 1-2-3) but only pro-diversity. She’s wrong, but schools are willing to roll the dice that their bluff won’t be called and that, if it is, they’ll draw a sympathetic judge.