On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the race-based admissions policies of universities that have discriminated against Asian Americans for decades.
Chief Justice John Roberts said the “well-intentioned” belief that “the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned, but the color of their skin” is wrong. Justice Clarence Thomas added: “Universities’ self-proclaimed righteousness does not afford them license to discriminate on the basis of race.”
In a curious historical juxtaposition, on June 19, the Australian Parliament adopted a resolution to hold a referendum to re-racialize the Constitution by inserting a new chapter to give to Indigenous Australian rights of representations that are not available to any other group. If adopted, the so-called Voice would entrench inequality of citizenship, negating the proud boast of Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1988: “In Australia there is no hierarchy of descent; there must be no privilege of origin.”