Social Implications
While the decision did uphold affirmative action as a practice, some expressed concern about the social implication of the extent to which the decision revised the definition of affirmative action.
Prior to this case, the "compelling interest" required to justify affirmative action has been correcting the effects of historic discrimination. Put another way, affirmative action was intended to "benefit" blacks or other groups facing historic discrimination.
By contrast, in the majority decision, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor held that the compelling interest at hand lay in "obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." In the essay The New Affirmative Action, an affirmative action supporter criticized the ruling, arguing "Under the terms of the new affirmative action, then, the primary role of Blacks is not as benefactors of the policy, but as diversity servants, catering to the cultural experience of white students." Put another way, the redefined affirmative action is intended to "benefit" white students by exposing them to diversity.
Read more about this topic: Grutter V. Bollinger
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