here’s the problem:
the racists at Harvard and UNC want lots of blacks and Hispanics and so award them points
So, Harvard is 15 percent black, and 13 percent Hispanic because of affirmative action, and 25 percent Asian because of the opposite of affirmative action.
This would appear to leave 52 percent of the admission slots for whites, but not really.
Because a lot of the 52 percent is reserved for “legacies” (sons and daughters of alums) and children of “whales” (potential big donors).
Maybe a quarter of the seats are available to non-privileged whites.
Well, what if it were illegal to cap enrollment of Asians? Then maybe Asians go from 25 percent to 40 percent. And the seats available to non-privileged whites go from something like 25 percent to something like 10 percent.
That would NOT be politically acceptable at a public university, and might not be palatable at a private university either.
Hence, capping Asian enrollment is needed to keep non-privileged whites thinking they have a chance. Lifting the cap on Asians would make it clear that non-privileged whites are screwed at elite colleges.
"The way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
There has essentially been a three justice swing since the Court last considered this issue, and it has been in our direction.