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Nearly 20 years ago, then-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ruled in favor of using race in college admissions but ominously warned that the clock was ticking on affirmative action.
She gave it 25 years.
But given the conservative majority now on the Supreme Court — and the tenacity of affirmative action opponents — the end of the 1960s-era policy designed to right the wrongs of the past may come sooner.
As Travis Knoll, a University of North Carolina Charlotte associate professor of history, writes, ending such programs would have a significant impact on an unlikely organization — the U.S. military, its four service academies and its ROTC programs on college campuses across the country.
On the battlefield, Knoll writes, the lack of a diversified officers corps is a matter of life and death — as the U.S. military painfully learned during the Vietnam War.
It’s unclear whether the Supreme Court will heed the lessons from military officials. The court heard oral arguments on Oct. 31, 2022, and based on the questions from conservative justices, the goal of having diverse campuses may rest on a college’s ability to develop race-neutral policies.
Also today:
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Howard Manly
Race + Equity Editor
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The U.S. Supreme Court in its official portrait on Oct. 7, 2022.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images
Travis Knoll, University of North Carolina – Charlotte
The US Supreme Court is poised to determine the fate of the use of race in college admissions. Supporters of affirmative action, like the military, fear the worst.
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Politics + Society
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Joshua F.J. Inwood, Penn State; Derek H. Alderman, University of Tennessee
In the Shelby v. Holder decision, a key section of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act was eliminated, thus enabling states with histories of racial discrimination to enact new voting laws.
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Matthew A Baum, Harvard Kennedy School; Alauna Safarpour, Harvard Kennedy School; Jonathan Schulman, Northwestern University; Kristin Lunz Trujillo, Harvard Kennedy School
New surveys carried out by a team of social scientists find no evidence that Democrats, Republicans and independents are more likely to vote because of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision in June.
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Kristin Kanthak, University of Pittsburgh
All 50 states have laws that ban potentially intimidating behavior at polling places. They will need enforcement during the 2022 midterm elections.
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Jeff Inglis, The Conversation
Amid discussion of how best to conduct and tally a hotly contested election that is potentially subject to nefarious meddling, three experts explain the basics.
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Environment + Energy
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Daniel Sperling, University of California, Davis; Lewis Fulton, University of California, Davis; Marshall Miller, University of California, Davis; Miguel Jaller, University of California, Davis
As California goes on regulating air pollution, other states often follow – including the Golden State’s ambitious goals for cleaning up emissions from trucking.
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Economy + Business
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William Chittenden, Texas State University
Many voters say inflation is the issue that matters to them most as they head to the polls. The problem is, the people they choose can’t do much about it.
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Cristina Bodea, Michigan State University; Andrew Kerner, Michigan State University
Men were significantly less likely to express confidence in the Federal Reserve and optimism about the economy when monetary policy information came from a woman versus a man.
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Fatema Z. Sumar, Harvard Kennedy School
The United States has more economic inequality than other wealthy nations.
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Arts + Culture
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Walter Edwards, Wayne State University
African American Vernacular English is a stigmatized dialect that is still ridiculed in education and the workplace. Its speakers are coherent and intelligent communicators, but remain disadvantaged.
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Joshua B. Grubbs, Bowling Green State University; Shane Kraus, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Any increase in people seeking help for gambling disorders could overwhelm the nation’s treatment centers, which already find themselves overextended and underfunded.
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From our international editions
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