Michelle Obama's 'Heart Breaks' Now That Asians Are Getting Fair Shot at College Admissions
Michelle Obama says her heart is breaking.
But I’m not entirely sure why.
The former first lady’s statement after the Supreme Court effectively gutted affirmative action in colleges Thursday is confusing at best.
In response to the landmark ruling that colleges can no longer consider race in their decisions for accepting applicants, Obama — who graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School — issued a statement that began, “Back in college, I was one of the few Black students on my campus, and I was proud of getting into such a respected school. I knew I’d worked hard for it.
“But still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action. It was a shadow that students like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from outside or inside our own minds.”
She continued, “But the fact is this: I belonged. And semester after semester, decade after decade, for more than half a century, countless students like me showed they belonged, too.”
I wanted to share some of my thoughts on today’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action: pic.twitter.com/Wa6TGafzHV
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 29, 2023
Was Obama making the case for ending affirmative action?
The former first lady admitted that affirmative action was a “shadow” under which she and others lived because they worried people didn’t think they belonged.
The Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by Students for Fair Admissions that, among other things, said the racial preference policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina penalized Asian-American students.
In his opinion Thursday, Justice Clarence Thomas agreed, saying, “Racialism simply cannot be undone by different or more racialism.”
“Instead,” he wrote, “the solution announced in the second founding is incorporated in our Constitution: that we are all equal, and should be treated equally before the law without regard to our race.
“Only that promise can allow us to look past our differing skin colors and identities and see each other for what we truly are: individuals with unique thoughts, perspectives, and goals, but with equal dignity and equal rights under the law.”
Even former President Barack Obama agreed that affirmative action was flawed.
“Like any policy, affirmative action wasn’t perfect. But it allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged. Now it’s up to all of us to give young people the opportunities they deserve — and help students everywhere benefit from new perspectives,” he said in a statement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
But his wife’s heart is breaking about the fact that students will now be judged on their abilities and not the color of their skin.
“So today, my heart breaks for any young person out there who’s wondering what their future holds — and what kinds of chances will be open to them,” she wrote.
The same chances that every other American has, Michelle.
Striking down affirmative action not only will make college admissions fairer for Asians and others who have been unfairly denied but also will allow black Americans who have genuinely worked for the grades to be proud of their degrees without the public perception that they are less accomplished than their counterparts because they got in through affirmative action.
The Supreme Court has ended affirmative action. They didn’t strike down diversity; they struck down discrimination. Race doesn’t determine your value or your success in life. The court says Harvard was relying on the stereotype that “a black student can usually bring something… pic.twitter.com/L44dwg7uKT
— Jesse Watters (@JesseBWatters) June 30, 2023
On a side note, if colleges truly cared about giving kids with fewer opportunities a chance, they might consider ending legacy admissions, which give preference to alumni’s family members. The move, which Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina called for Thursday, would make the process fairer and give everyone an equal chance.
But then, when was affirmative action or the equity agenda ever about fairness?
Still, overall, this ruling is a good first step.
Although colleges will likely find loopholes to get around the ruling, striking down affirmative action brings us one pace closer to ensuring that all students are judged on the basis of their character, their hard work and their merit and not on the color of their skin.
Michelle Obama should be happy about that.
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