The Roberts decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard shot down affirmative action as a legal practice but punted on the question of racial discrimination within the military and its service branch academies.
This from frontpagemag.com.
A footnote briefly stated that:
No military academy is a party to these cases, however, and none of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context. This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.
Notably, one of the Obiden Regime’s big arguments for racially discriminating against white and Asian students in college admissions was the need for military diversity.
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the Supreme Court:
It is not possible to achieve that diversity without race-conscious admissions, including at the nation’s service academies.
And more than half of the ‘national interest’ section in the High Court’s amicus brief argued that the military “depends on a well-qualified and diverse officer corps” which requires that colleges select for diversity over merit.
Now that many of those who have been following this are
confused, will the U.S. utilize Affirmative Action or not?
The idea that racial discrimination should be illegal at colleges, but still legal at service branch academies like the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy, is a loophole that must not be allowed to survive.
Justice Sotomayor argued that the exception proves that ‘the Fourteenth Amendment does not categorically prohibit the use of race in college admissions.’ And it’s hard to deny her reasoning.
Either racially discriminating against students is legal or it’s illegal. National security can only go so far to justify an illegal practice especially when it’s a social element with an indirect effect.
The Left quickly attacked Justice Roberts for seemingly leaving the carveout on military diversity that the Obiden Regime had demanded as a matter of national security.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin (C/G-MI) complained:
Adding insult to injury is that the Court exempted military service academies, like West Point and the Naval Academy, from its own ruling. So the majority on the Court does in fact recognize the inherent importance of a diverse military and that diversity makes our country not only more fair, but more stable and secure—but they refuse to allow our colleges and universities to hold the same values.
Rep. Jason Crow (C/G-CO) tweeted, inverting an illegal racial preference into a disadvantage:
This decision is deeply upsetting but outright grotesque for exempting military academies. The court is saying diversity shouldn’t matter, EXCEPT when deciding who can fight and die for our country.
Justice Roberts’ footnote and the outcry from the Left and the Right over the status of service branch academies suggests that affirmative action at service branch academies will need to be revisited at some point.
Of course, this bad decision by the High Court will
“need to be revisited.” Let us hope it will not be
allowed to fester for fifty years like Roe v. Wade.
Meanwhile some members of Congress are acting:
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, plans to introduce his ‘Military Merit, Fairness, and Equality Act of 2023’ as an amendment to the defense bill which would:
[P]rohibit the Department of Defense from prioritizing the demographic characteristics of service members above individual merit and demonstrated performance.
The senator has said that as part of that his amendment:
[W]ould further prohibit our military service academies from engaging in race-based affirmative action.
This legislation isn’t likely to advance in a communist/globalist Senate, but it will be part two of an important conversation that must continue sooner than later. Affirmative action did not arrive in the military yesterday. It has been around far too long, and in recent years it has escalated to an alarming degree.
In May, an exclusive investigation by Front Page Magazine and the David Horowitz Freedom Center revealed that:
Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr., Biden’s nominee to succeed Milley as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had signed off on a quota that would keep the number of white male officers in the Air Force down to only 43%.
Even before Senate hearings on Brown’s nomination get underway, the American Accountability Foundation filed a complaint against the Air Force boss on the grounds that:
General Brown has made statements in favor of making hiring and promotion decisions in the Air Force based on race.
The complaint notes Brown’s public statements such as:
I hire for diversity. [and] I purposely build my office, my front office, and my team with diverse backgrounds.
Military officials have stated publicly that service academies:
[E]mploy race as a factor in recruiting and admission policies and decisions.
This is illegal, but there’s a reason that it’s been the trump card of proponents of this form of systemic racism.
Many things get a pass when national security is introduced into the equation. National security has been used by the Obiden Regime to argue that abortion and transgender procedures on children should be legal. The Obiden military brass have chosen to halt confirmation of 150 nominees, including the new commandant of the Marine Corps, rather than abandon its allegiance to abortion.
While the Obiden Regime has no interest in winning any wars, it wants to fight its culture wars using the military.
Service branch academies have become battlegrounds on issues such as BLM and the LGBTQ movement. The [Regime] has also led a purge of alumni and conservatives from boards, including from the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy.
Chief Justice Roberts may have wanted to avoid addressing racial discrimination at service branch academies, but it is an inescapable question. Conservatism wants to address this issue now. The Left wants the issue to become institutionalized but it will grow and morph like Roe V. Wade did.
May God Bless America and God speed to Conservatism.
