Does SCOTUS Ruling Mean Race No Longer Matters?

On the surface, the Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Michigan’s ban on affirmative action looks pretty placid. “This case is not about the constitutionality, or the merits, of race-conscious admissions policies in higher education,” Justice Anthony Kennedy hastens to reassure in his pro-ban opinion. “Rather, the question concerns whether, and in what manner, voters in the States may choose to prohibit the consideration of such racial preferences.” In past cases, the court’s conservatives have gone up against states and universities that wanted to keep affirmative action. This time, they’re in the far more pleasant position of siding with Michigan voters, who banned race-based preferences in 2006. The voters acted after the Supreme Court allowed affirmative action to continue, as long as admissions officers didn’t rely on quotas, in a big important case that also came from Michigan in 2003.