The Supreme Court has ruled race-based affirmative action unconstitutional. But even months after the decision, the immediate and long-term consequences are uncertain. Colleges are already implementing work-arounds and searching for loopholes that will allow them to maintain the status quo on campus without getting sued. And anti-affirmative action activists, now with the wind at their backs, are mounting legal challenges to the hiring and admissions practices in law firms, military academies, and all manner of other businesses not explicitly covered by the Students for Fair Admissions decision.
There is much to be debated, and the College of the Holy Cross invited me and the distinguished legal scholar Randall Kennedy to take the stage and work through some of the big questions. Randy is an old friend, and this is just the latest in a long line of sparring matches between us. (You can read a transcript of our 2020 debate here.) Renu Mukherjee, a PhD student in American politics at Boston College and my colleague at the Manhattan Institute, serves as moderator. You could say that I’m against affirmative action and Randy is for it, but that doesn’t capture the nuances of this debate. Neither of us are pure ideologues when it comes to this issue, and our agreements are just as interesting and unexpected as our disagreements.
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0:00 Introduction by Greg Burnep
4:27 What does affirmative action mean in 2023?
11:06 Randy’s distinction between “disadvantage” and “discrimination”
18:21 Diversity’s double-talk
31:18 Did the Supreme Court say discrimination is allowed at military academies?
34:33 Glenn: Affirmative action distracts us from bigger problems
41:16 Affirmative action is an elite problem
48:48 Affirmative action as an insurance policy
57:42 The stigmatization of affirmative action beneficiaries
1:04:14 Glenn: Affirmative action has been a net positive, but it’s time to stop
1:07:14 Q&A: Does historical injustice alone justify affirmative action?
1:10:33 Q&A: Can and should colleges use loopholes to get around Students for Fair Admissions?
1:14:50 Q&A: Does the “need” for affirmative action say something race or education?
1:16:27 Q&A: What is the impact of SFFA beyond the university?
1:23:35 Q&A: What about class-based affirmative action?
Recorded September 20, 2023
Links and Readings
Randy’s book, Race, Crime, and the Law
Randy’s book, For Discrimination: Race, Affirmative Action, and the Law
Glenn’s conversation with Jay Caspian Kang
Randall Kennedy & Renu Mukherjee – A Debate on Affirmative Action, Live at Holy Cross