When the Supreme Court handed down SFFA v. Harvard, it was an ego blow. There’s no real shortage of messaging that caters to whiteness — you don’t have to go far to find advocates of kicking out minorities to make environments that White Idahoan males can feel comfortable in:
Or see a presidential campaign declaring that it is finally white boy summer:
However, let a law review mention race and Stephen Miller will glove up to fight for John Doe.
Despite the first two clips being clear examples of identity politics and racial bias in institutional decision making, identity-based decision making that doesn’t center whiteness has been treated as the Boogeyman at the heart of all problems ranging from devaluing the importance of Ivy league degrees to bridge collisions. The “Anti-Racism is the REAL Racism” crowd took the Harvard decision and ran with it: law firms got sued, DEI staff are getting canned, and students were genuinely worried about how to proceed with their applications in a post-affirmative action world. Thankfully, students didn’t let those realities deter them from applying themselves. Literally. Reuters has coverage:
Uncertainty surrounding college admissions hasn’t dissuaded minority law school applicants this year.
The number of Hispanic applicants is up 8.9% compared with the same time last year, according to data from the Law School Admission Council. Black applicants are up 6.7%, and Asian applicants are up 6.1%, the numbers show. White applicants, by contrast, posted the smallest year-over-year increase at 3.1%…The boost in minority applicants could be the result of “enhanced recruitment and outreach” by law schools to encourage prospective applicants of color, said Aaron Taylor, executive director of the AccessLex Center for Legal Education.
It is too early to say that the war is won — the ultimate metric will be how well diverse applicants do when it comes to admissions — but great strides have been made in the battle. Can’t have diverse schools without diverse applicants, after all. Are we at the point where a state college president can say that they want to establish learning communities so that young Asian or Native men can find a place that they belong? Hell no, the Blum Brigade would serve them a lawsuit before the day is over. But we are at the point where students are willing to prove that they belong themselves, and that’s worth celebrating.
Minority Law School Applications Increase After Ruling Against Affirmative Action [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
