Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s critical take on the Supreme Court decision to end affirmative action policies and bar schools from applying race-based criteria to admissions has faced an outpouring of criticism online.
The Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision on June 29 revived a strict interpretation of the 14th Amendment to make clear that equal treatment under the law bars discrimination based on race, even when that discrimination gives a leg up to groups considered “marginalized” or “underrepresented” in public life in some respect.
Some, like former President Donald Trump, hailed the decision as a step toward a race-blind, merit-based system of college admissions that prevents discrimination against those with extraordinary abilities.
“It will also keep us competitive with the rest of the world,” Trump wrote in a statement posted on Truth Social, in which the former president argued that color-blind admission policies would help the country as a whole, as those who are the most talented and hard-working will have a less constrained path toward success.
Others, like Kennedy, lamented the high court’s move as a step back while arguing for the use of race-based policies to “undo the effect of racist policies.”
“I know many Americans feel that purely race-based decisions are unfair. However, this feeling misses important context. The effects of racist policies going back centuries are now self-perpetuating,” Kennedy wrote in a series of posts on Twitter.
The presidential hopeful continued his missive by laying out the argument that color-blind admissions standards protect those who are “already in the circle of privilege” and that race-based policies are an appropriate measure to elevate those who have been marginalized.
Merit-based admissions favor “those who grew up in affluent, educated households,” Kennedy wrote, adding, “Wouldn’t you like to invite in those who have been left out in the cold?”
Kennedy’s take drew a flurry of critical responses on Twitter, including from large accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers.
By Tom Ozimek
