The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action
The #scotus ruled to make race-considerate admissions illegal. Many are calling this the end of #affirmativeaction.
We knew this was coming, but I was still shocked at the reasoning Justices Clarence Thomas, Roberts and others outlined in their concurring opinions.
It feels like most people, including those in the highest positions of power completely misunderstand the way admissions work in higher education, so in this video I clarify the way a holistic admissions process works.
I’d encourage you to read it for yourself (the language is simple, so no need to feel intimidated): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
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@camadams9149
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Race based affirmative action getting scrapped was excellent.
All affirmative action needs to solely be class based.
@lifewithlaniDUH
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I’m curious to know your thoughts on Thomas Sowell bc that’s who Clarence sounded like in his statement.
@Marlinsdotter
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I used to be an AA officer. Tne key is the statement that "all things being equal" between 2 candidates, minorities will be chosen according to the difference between the make-up of an employer/school and what it should be, considering the profile of its "feeder pool".
If there are no black typesetters graduating from typesetter school, then they are charged with figuring out why & how to attract black students. Until then, employers of typesetters are not held accountable to hire black typesetters.
@EricKoonitsky-s1d
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
It's wild that white supremacists sell this as the fulfillment of MLK's dream when MLK has multiple speeches, interviews, etc. describing his successful and public fights for racial quotas in hiring, awarding government contracts, etc. Not that they would support a professional rabble rouser with a long criminal record even if he was actually a champion of colorblindeness (aka blindness to white supremacy). They hated Justice Harlan, who explicitly acknowledged that they he US was white supremacist, but said it should and would be maintained with a colorblind constitution.
None of it is logically, legally, or historically coherent. They have the power and they're rewriting the Constitution and the law to suit their preferences.
@cl10367
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
How is prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race arbitrary? It's a suspect class.
It's not like race is a minor factor, one among many, as you say. The average SAT score disparity between blacks and asians was over 150 points. That's the difference between a 1550 and a 1400. The preference was not just huge, it was dispositive in many cases. And asian with a applicant in the 6th academic decile had a 2.5% chance of admission, a black applicant in the 6th decile had a 30% chance of admission. That is not "one factor among many" stop telling that lie. It's not a tiebreaker between otherwise equally qualified candidates. At every decile the black applicant had at least 4 times the chance of admission over an asian applicant. It was that juxtaposition that made asian plaintiffs so compelling. And race is a suspect class and must survive strict scrutiny, would you have it any other way?
Thomas is not wrong about the badge of inferiority conferred by affirmative action. About half the black students at harvard would never get in but for their race and now the competency of the other half is also put into question. People won't tell you to your face but they all think it and you find yourself having to prove yourself over and over again at school, at work, and in society.
Your chart at 4:34 is not undergraduate admissions. That includes grad schools. BTW whites are something like 70% of the population.
College admissions at 90% of colleges will not be affected even a little bit by the banning of affirmative action because they are not particularly selective. And we are likely to see a rise in black enrollment at some colleges that had had their cohort of black applicants cannibalized by more selective colleges.
Explain to me again how hispanics have been oppressed in ways that asians have not. When asians were being lynched in the west, it was hispanic men standing next to white men doing the lynching.
@I.no.ah.guy57
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I just dont know why people insist to look at people's skin color. Its not really that important. What is important, is how your community emphasizes education. You didnt mention how many black and latino students DONT bother finishing their education, or dont try hard enough, otherwise theyre seen as "white". We can put as many black and brown people into higher education as we can, but its up to them whether they take that opportunity. Lead a horse to water and all that… And as for all the colleges being more "white" after AA being overturned, (in a majority white country 🙄) what does that tell you about education in the non white communities? If theyre truly acknowledging merit and nothing else (which most do), why is it that its mostly white and asian students being accepted? Affirmative Action, to me, is saying that non whites NEED a helping hand, because they cant get there on their own. We're a century along from slavery and widespread racism. Not everything can be blamed on that these days. Theres still racist people, for sure. But to say that the majority of universities dont accept black people because theyre racist or prejudiced to non whites?? And if we dont have AA then there wont be any black or brown people there? Utter hogwash. We must start from the bottom. In our own communities, making sure that we emphasize education and being successful to our children. And getting rid of the stigma of "being educated is to be like the white man". That harms black people more than not having AA. If black people were driven enough to learn, to progress in education, rather than joining gangs or selling drugs, rapping, and going to jail, we wouldnt have had the need for AA. I know people are set in their ways, but has AA ACTUALLY done what it's meant to do? Those who are accepted under AA were stigmatized even still, because race is a factor. How good of a feeling would it be, if you got into the highest, best university in all the land, based on NOTHING but your own grit, intelligence, and hard work??? I want that for everyone. But AA does nothing but throw people into places where they're not able to survive, where theyre not prepared. Sending a black person with slightly lower scores than the average successful graduate student at a high level uni, because "we need black people", is just setting them up out of their league, for failure. Then they feel even worse about themselves because they werent good enough, but they were able to get in, even though it wasnt due to their academic ability in the first place
@paulwilson2895
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Thomas says AA admits may not be "competitive" with non-AA admits. On the surface, and in beginning that might be true. However, as an black athletic admit (not on scholarship) I was admitted to an elite Midwestern university. Suffered two years because I was truly not prepared for high level academics. Last two years, I figured out the academic "game." Graduated in four years with the confidence I was as good as my peers. Worked two years, then went back to university, full time, and earned my masters. Give us normal folk a chance and we will rise to the academic competition.
@vulcan930
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I think this is a good video but does slightly downplay the effect that race based considerations were having on admissions. To show this, if applicants were split into 10 groups based on academic performance, African Americans in the fourth lowest group were more likely to be accepted (12.8%) than Asian Americans in the top group (12.7%). I think this main point of the majority is very important to make as it shows how positive discrimination can sometimes necessarily cause negative discrimination elsewhere, especially for Asian Americans. It’s definitely sad to see a decline in applications from black and Latino students, but I don’t think affirmative action should be the way to solve this, when what really matters is improving education at the lower levels so that they can win back these top spots in us colleges due to superior test scores as opposed to the colour of their skin, which I think is much more empowering than knowing there are kids who didn’t get into the college that are much smarter and more qualified than you. I do think that the point about legacies should also be highlighted though as it’s hypocritical to call out only race-based admissions when that’s also another deciding factor.
@jamesmcpherson1590
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I couldn't agree more!
@HamiltonIsLife
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Affirmative action is different than DEI?
@TheRealTomWendel
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the conservative majority on the SCOTUS making an isolated bad decision. It’s the result of over five decades of conservative activism that understood their policies and ideology could not be used to win over voters. So their answer (promoted heavily by non other than John Roberts) was to develop a pipeline to place conservatives on the courts who would follow the dictates of wealthy Americans who funded the Federalist Society. It also took bringing cases that they knew they’d lose for the purpose of putting fabricated legal principles like originalism and equal sovereignty among states into dissenting opinions that could later be used in the cases they strategically teed up to knock down the VRA and Roe as well as to decide that corporations have rights and money is speech (Citizens United) and that gerrymandering districts to dilute the power of minority votes is not a violation of a fundamental constitutional principle. They’ve managed to turn up the temperature on eroding our democracy so gradually that nobody realizes that we’re being boiled alive.
@turkessatucker3121
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
You should debate Candace Owens
@rayner226
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Just subscribe to your channel. What you are saying here is exactly what happened to the indigenous race in New Zealand, maori will now find it harder to get into university where you said diversity is what's needed in today's society
@ThePapawhisky
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
I appreciate your points. Thank you.
@w41duvernay
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
The whole Affirmative Action was done to make up for past racism that had denied Black Americans that had been prevented historically. Thomas reasoning was that he was allowed to get access into education and a justice position only because he was black, which is why he was hostile to affirmative action, he didn't think about allowing others to get help from afirmative action policy by colleges.
@Decentbeing0001
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Regressive Leftist media Mother Jones, MSNBC,NBC,CNN,CBS are Braínwashing people into playing Identity politics.
@Decentbeing0001
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Regressive Leftist media Mother Jones, MSNBC,NBC,CNN,CBS are Braínwashing people into playing Identity politics.
@Decentbeing0001
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Regressive Leftist media Mother Jones, MSNBC,NBC,CNN,CBS are Braínwashing people into playing Identity politics.
@pipestone67
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
8 black ceos among the fortune 500 list. Looks like they already have affirmative action in reverse.
@jatinrustagi9763
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Why did Asian kids needed more in SAT compared to blacks?
@nogrecords
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
How this video gone have Eight thousand views & less than ONE thou likes? Ed Lover says Come On Son! 😗👈
@bunnyedelstein5927
June 10, 2026 at 4:19 am
Absolutely nailed it with your opening statement that he started with his conclusion and then worked backwards.
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