Mock Trial

    In Regents of University of California v. Bakke, the supreme court ruled that using racial “quotas” in the administration process was unconstitutional. A racial quota is when business and educational systems use numerical requirements in hiring or admitting only a certain race. The medical school at the University of California reserved 16 percent of its admissions for applicants who were minorities. Allan Bakke who was a white Californian had been denied by the school twice filed a lawsuit against the school. He proved that his test scores and grades were a lot better than most minority students so he sued for reverse discrimination. Bakke fought in court and proved that he had a higher GPA and test scores than these other students therefore proving that the only reason he got denied from the school was simply because of his race. While the school had nothing but good intentions with their decision to reserve 16 spots for “qualified minorities” it is still unfair to the other thousands of applicants. Having this quota system directly violated the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment. 

Having a racial quota in special admissions is well intentioned but it is destructive of equal opportunity. Having these quotas make it impossible to compete with the other students that are not in these groups. The only way this could be okay is if the constitution was constructed so that whites would have less protection against discrimination than minorities. White students were allowed to apply through their special program but not one of them had ever been admitted through it. Having these quotas only for minority students makes it extremely unfair to everyone else that does not meet the requirements for the quota. It gives these specific students a better chance at getting admitted into the school while other students were not helped out one bit. In this specific case the school blocked off ⅙ spots for acceptance for only a specific type of student. This is not the only time this has happened. At Harvard, 11.8 percent of students admitted as freshmen are African American which is almost exactly the same amount as years in the past. Hispanic students are also 11.8 percent of the admitted students and these statistics have stayed the same year after year. These quotas are also present when it comes to athletes, coaches are given a certain amount of spots for the athletes that they want on their teams in the future. The admission process for college should be extremly equal and race should not even be looked at in these types of decisions. The fact that your race and other factors that can not be controlled are considered in this process makes it so that you do not have the same chance to get into the school as another student even if you have exactly the same grades and extracurriculars.