Regents of the University of California v. Bakke: Affirmative Action and Racial Quotas
Abby Rose
Liberty High School
3AB
The famous court case of Regents of the University of CA v. Bakke has been a controversial court case dealing with affirmative action. Affirmative action usually is defined as special privileges or policies that favor a minority group or race. Even though the defendant, Allan Bakke, may have scored higher than some of the minorities that applied, he still did not get in because of his skin color. The university was picking students based on a racial quota, and the white quota for the university was met, that is why Bakke did not get accepted. Not only does this case deal with the concept of affirmative action and racial quotas, but also the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that no business or state shall deny a person based on their race or sex.
Allan Bakke, the defendant in this case, actually applied to the university two …show more content…
Well, the answer was yes and no. Even though the school was unfair for having racial quotas, the practice of affirmative action is okay. The use of racial quotas violates the Fourteenth Amendment with its Equal Protection Clause, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This clause states that no person should be denied employment based on race, sex, religion, or ethnicity, whilst affirmative action does not. Affirmative action is the use of special privileges for minorities or people that face discrimination because of their race or sex. With this, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of racial quotas is unconstitutional, but the university is allowed to practice affirmative action (Tribe,