Yes, you read that right. President Donald Trump plans to launch an investigation in an effort to sue college and universities for the use of affirmative action because it “intentionally discriminates” against White students.
Affirmative action became law after President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, creed, or national origin to applicants of employment in 1961. President Lyndon B. Johnson later expanded JFK’s order to include women. Then, President Richard B. Nixon enforced diversity quotas for federal contractors to increase minority employment.
“In institutions of higher education, affirmative action refers to admission policies that provide equal access to education for those groups that have been historically excluded or underrepresented, such as women and minorities”, says the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Controversy surrounding the constitutionality of affirmative action programs has made the topic one of heated debate.”
Well, Trump is putting his foot down on the debate, by using the Justice Department’s civil rights division to
launch an investigation for “possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions”, according to an internal document obtained by the New York Times.
The investigation “would look for stark gaps in test scores and dropout rates among different racial cohorts within student bodies, which he said would be evidence suggesting that admissions offices were putting too great an emphasis on applicants’ race and crossing the line the Supreme Court has drawn”, says NY Times.
Those opposed to affirmative action argue the civil rights law gives special treatment to the undeserving and unqualified based on race and gender, but fail to look at how wealthy White families have historically used money as a form of affirmative action for rich White kids with subpar grades.
Case in point: Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who both went to ivy-league schools after their parents made large, tax deductible donations to the universities.
Social media reacted to the news of Trump’s plan to abolish affirmative action:
The government giveth, the government taketh away. #AffirmativeAction
— DJ Commish (@djcommish) August 2, 2017
I went to one of the best schools in the world & the dumbest kids there were easily the rich white ones who had their own #affirmativeaction
— Lana Dsa Convensheon (@LanaDelRaytheon) August 2, 2017
If you want to understand the importance of #AffirmativeAction, just count the number of unqualified white men in the White House.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) August 2, 2017
don’t forget that the largest demo to benefit from #AffirmativeAction is white women so miss me w/ that “blacks just get free college” mess
— Mamoudou N’Diaye (@MamoudouNDiaye) August 2, 2017
DT- Can’t a lazy, wealthy, privileged, mediocre white boy catch a break?
Jeff- I know right? When’s it gonna be our turn?#AffirmativeAction pic.twitter.com/45phWoZ4GB— Alexander Hamilton (@AHamiltonSpirit) August 2, 2017