Affirmative action in America, whether in colleges and universities or in government employment or contracts, was a corrective response to minorities being shut out of institutions no matter the law. One of the defendants in the recent case, Harvard University, let in their first Black students, W.E.B. du Bois, in 1890. From 1890–1940 they let in an average of three Black students a year. By 2023, Black students made up 6% of the Harvard student population while being accused of taking spots Asians should have had (they were almost 14%). The only real protected class in American colleges and universities is white students. 28% of all admissions are legacy students that are well over 95% white.

I could agree with you that affirmative action may not be the best way to reach equity. I can’t forget that without it, there was no incentive at all, and American schools, contractors, and governments weren’t doing anything voluntarily.