The Fantasy of 'Race Neutral' College Admissions

In banning affirmative action, the Supreme Court has *not* banned using race in college admissions. "Race neutral" is a legal fantasy, the latest to conserve racism. As Uma Jayakumar and I write @TheAtlantic, “race neutral” is the new “separate but equal.”https://t.co/EecYSiZ9zd

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) June 29, 2023

The idea of "race neutral" admission metrics, like test scores, is a fantasy, like the Court doctrine that segregated schools were “separate but equal.” We show how several admission metrics disadvantage Black, Latinx, Native, and many Asian students.https://t.co/EecYSiZ9zd

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) June 29, 2023

The Court effectively outlawed affirmative action, which closes racial inequities in admissions, leaving the metrics that have long led to racial inequities in college admissions. The result: a normality of racial inequity. Sanctioned by the Court. Again.https://t.co/EecYSiZ9zd

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) June 29, 2023

Chief Justice Roberts, in striking down affirmative action at UNC and Harvard, recognized “the inherent folly” of the “separate but equal” approach. But he refused to recognize the inherent folly of his “race neutral” approach to create racial equity. https://t.co/EecYSiZ9zd

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) June 29, 2023

The “race neutral” doctrine is conserving racial inequity today—and striking down antiracist efforts as unnecessary, if not harmful—as “separate but equal” conserved racism a century ago—and struck down desegregation efforts as unnecessary, if not harmful.https://t.co/EecYSiZ9zd

— Ibram X. Kendi (@DrIbram) June 29, 2023