Sonia Sotomayer: "Race Matters" Affirmative Action is not 'Unconstitutional'

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor outlines in her dissent in Schuette—that despite what society agrees on in theory, in practice, “Race matters.” And that when we’re talking about the fate of affirmative action, we shouldn’t merely leave it at whatever voters decide, because that discounts “the long history of racial minorities’ being denied access to the political process.”

“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race,” she says, “and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society. It is this view that works harm, by perpetuating the facile notion that what makes race matter is acknowledging the simple truth that race does matter.”

This after the precdent set in Michigan that Affirmative Action is Unconstitutional and ones race or gender should  not be measured when considering college admissions. 

Read Arguments here