The announcement, Thursday, June 29, of the end of positive discrimination in American universities revives the debate on the access of minorities to higher education. Behind the complaint lodged against this measure, Edward Blum, a conservative activist who brought together Americans of Asian origin: the “Students for Fair Admissions”, the “students for fair admissions”.
The complaint dates back to 2014. The association Students for Fair Admissions then accuses two of the oldest universities in the country of discriminating against students of Asian origin. These accusations target Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The conservative association argues that Asian students could be much more numerous in these universities if recruitment was based only on their academic performance, because their results are clearly above average.
For Students for Fair Admissions, it’s simple: positive discrimination favors black students, to the detriment of those of Asian origin. In other words: this would be another form of racial discrimination, in violation of civil rights laws and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.
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Abolish race as a selection criterion, Edward Blum’s fight
For the president of the association, the abolition of positive discrimination at the university is therefore a legal victory. At 71, Edward Blum is no longer a student. He who advocates effort and merit, wants a society without distinction of color. But even if some Americans agree with him, he still faces criticism. Critics fear the recent announcements will wipe out decades of struggle and progress toward a more equal and inclusive America. Blum, they claim, is setting America back.
He began his legal campaign challenging race-based admissions in 2008, when he took on the case ofAbigail Fisher, a white student who felt she was discriminated against when she was rejected by the University of Texas. The Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas’ admissions policy in that case, but the composition of the court has since changed, reshuffled by Donald Trump. It now has six conservative magistrates out of nine, including African-American judge Clarence Thomas, a defender of the positive discrimination programs from which he nevertheless benefited to study at the prestigious Yale University.
Edward Blum has worked for years to remove what he calls “racial delineation” from college admissions. He first became interested in affirmative action in higher education in 2003, when the University of Texas at Austin proposed including race and ethnicity among 15 factors in its admissions process. said Mr. Blum in his speech. UT Austin’s announcement followed the 2003 Supreme Court decision upholding the University of Michigan’s use of affirmative action. Mr. Blum viewed the moment as a window into how to challenge race-based considerations at the nation’s top higher education institutions.
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A legal strategist
Conservative activist Edward Blum has become a specialist in the prosecution of ” affirmative action “. It puts potential plaintiffs in touch with lawyers willing to represent them in cases likely to set precedents.
In 2021, he is filing a lawsuit challenging race and gender quotas on the California corporate board. Last year he formed theAlliance for Fair Board Recruitment which challenges the diversity requirements for the boards of directors of certain publicly traded companies.
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