Indian-origin Congressman Ro Khanna slammed the US Supreme Court’s decision to ban the consideration of race in university admissions, overturning decades-old affirmative action policies.
The Supreme Court justices voted along ideological lines in a 6-3 decision that struck down the policy – a decision praised by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, and slammed by Democrats.
Mr Khanna in an interview said the US Supreme Court did a “terrible disservice” to the future leaders of this country.
“What is not being talked about is how this will harm students, not just Black or Latino students, but also white and Asian American students. Consider students going to Harvard who want to become the future political leaders of this country, the future presidents, senators, you think they are going to have a better chance of doing that if they are in classes that don’t have adequate representation from African Americans or Latinos. They (Supreme Court) are doing a terrible disservice to the future leaders of this country in a multiracial, multiethnic democracy,” Mr Khanna said in an interview to MSNBC.
According to a nationwide survey done by the Pew Research Center, Asian Americans have traditionally had “mixed views” regarding affirmative action policies.
While 53% of Asian adults who have heard of affirmative action say it is a good thing, they believe that it helps to level the playing field for minority groups who have been historically discriminated against. They believe that affirmative action can help to promote diversity in college admissions and create a more just society.
However, 76% of all Asian adults say that race or ethnicity should not factor into college admissions decisions. They believe that affirmative action gives an unfair advantage to minority groups and can disadvantage Asian Americans who have worked hard to achieve their academic goals.
Former US President Barack Obama strongly spoke out against the decision, saying that affirmative action policies had “allowed generations of students” including him and his wife Michelle to “prove we belonged”.
US President Joe Biden “strongly disagreed” with the Supreme Court’s decision. The court’s ruling “walked away from decades of precedent,” he said.
News Source: PTI
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