What I Learned...

Bd. of Regents v. Bakke Case

Today in class, we talked about the Board of Regent v Bakke case. Bakke (1978), the Supreme Court ruled that a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process was unconstitutional, but a school's use of "affirmative action" to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances. Bakke decision, formally Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, ruling in which, on June 28, 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court declared affirmative action constitutional but invalidated the use of racial quotas. 

One key thing that stuck out to me in the presentation was the keyword affirmative action. 

Affirmative action in the United States is the active effort to improve employment, education, and other opportunities for members of groups that have been subjected to discrimination. Criteria for affirmative action include race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and age.

Both sides made strong agreements and strong points. After hearing both sides I learned a lot from the case. For example from the board of Regent side, he claims that they violated the 14th amendment. And the 14th amendment under the equal protection clause. We found out that white student Bakke applied to the medical program at the University of California and was denied a spot. Only 56 African Americans and 44 white students were only accepted into the program. However, on the other side, Bakke said using quota is unconstitutional, it was reverse discrimination. He said he got denied because of his race.

Overall, the case talked about how the quota system does no harm to white to have a welcoming environment. It opened that way for diversity. Creating diversity boost the economy.  Race was only one factor that they looked out but there are many other elements they looked at. Bakke case was such an important civil rights case because of race, education, and affirmative action.