This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on two cases that could change the landscape of college admissions in that country.

Affirmative Action, also referred to as “affirmative action,” refers to a set of policies or programs that aim to redress or compensate for past discrimination against minority groups (Hispanics and African Americans in general).

It is a legal policy to achieve more equality in higher education institutions and in jobs. This concept was born during the civil rights era in the 1960s in the United States and helps people from marginalized groups in society find a place in these institutions to overcome discriminatory barriers they may encounter.

The groundbreaking cases

This decision, which has drawn both criticism and support, has been the norm for college admissions for the past 45 years.

There are two cases that marked the idea of ​​affirmative action in universities. If Bake vs. University of California, the university was found to specifically reserve positions for African Americans, which was unconstitutional. While this was the verdict, it was also decided that while a candidate cannot be chosen solely on the basis of race, it is important to take that into consideration when admitting applicants.

The demands presented to the Supreme Court this week seek the opinion of Grutter versus Bollinger. In this case, the state said affirmative action was constitutional as long as it was done right, since race is only one of the factors taken into consideration, no one was discriminated against. This decision was also taken because the state has determined that it is in its interest to have several universities.

New review

The cases currently pending include two others presented by the Students for a Fair Admission (SFFA) organization representing Asian Americans. The first case is SFFA v. Harvard and the second is SFFA vs University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. They accuse the universities of discriminating against white and Asian Americans and favoring African Americans and Hispanics when choosing candidates. Both cases seek the affirmative action, which would make it unconstitutional for universities to take race into account when choosing candidates.

This organization has already tried twice with this motion, and lost both times. So far, all courts have upheld affirmative discrimination, but with six of the nine Supreme Court justices holding strong views on race and needing just 5 votes to overturn the claim, many expect the ruling to be inconsistent with the progress.

Diversity also in leadership

Defenders of this affirmative action policy say it helps ensure diversity in workplaces and universities because it helps create an environment where there are different opinions and experiences, making it a broader place of learning. There are also those who say that if affirmative action is reversed, highly selective colleges will only become a place for people in the always-served majority group, as these people are likely to be more educated and connected.

This could cause problems in the future as world leaders often attend these universities.

In 2009, one-third of U.S. government officials graduated from an Ivy League university, and two of the country’s three presidents have since graduated from one of those universities. This excludes the leaders of other countries, scientists, philosophers and writers who have obtained degrees in these institutions. Without diversity at the university level, diversity at the managerial level would decrease, according to claimants.

Comments or racing?

There are two arguments against which are the strongest. The first is that universities should only consider grades at the time of admission. They say that by trying to reduce discrimination, by looking only at race, they create more discrimination. The two cases at the moment are based on this argument.

The second stems from the idea that positive action doesn’t really solve problems, it just covers them up. Here’s the idea that with this policy all they’ve done is give room for minorities with money to come in, and it’s not helping the real minorities with little resources. They argue that instead of considering race, each person’s economy should be taken into account.

There is also the idea that this measure is not really solving the problem, which starts with early childhood education and ends with the economic privilege that many candidates have through better schools, entrance examination (SAT) teachers and other services that help them to from applicants with fewer resources.

Any decision this Court makes will have far-reaching implications for all higher education in the United States. It is believed that if they decide to nullify affirmative action, it will lead to a significant drop in the number of African Americans being admitted to the most selective universities, further reducing racial diversity. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a decision within this week.