The Week in Ideas: It’s likely ‘game over’ for affirmative action

Plus: How a forgotten venture capitalist kick-started Silicon Valley; What's most concerning about Neil Young's Spotify fight ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for this newsletter Read online Opinions you may have missed.       By Ruth Marcus Deputy editorial page editor  Email "I got into Yale University and then Harvard Law School because of affirmative action." So begins a particularly personal piece by Georgetown University law professor Paul Butler, a Post contributing columnist, about the Supreme Court's decision to consider whether institutions of higher education should continue to be allowed to consider diversity as a factor in their admissions decisions. Butler made a public pitch for affirmative action at a law school graduation ceremony two decades ago. The commencement speaker that day was Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who a few weeks later cast a deciding vote to let the practice continue. Today, Butler laments, "that kind of advocacy would be useless." With the court's six-justice conservative majority, "it's game over," he predicts. (You can also listen to the column in his own voice.)  What will be lost? Students of color who can describe what it's like to be stopped and frisked, or can relate the real-world difficulties of navigating the welfare system.  Those perspectives matter. They animate President Biden's pledge to select a Black woman to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer; she will hear the affirmative action cases when they are argued next term.  Will her presence, or Butler's column, cause the conservative justices to rethink their hostility? I wish I could summon reasons for optimism. I once told a Supreme Court justice that affirmative action got me into Harvard and Yale. Today they wouldn't listen. There are no more open-minded conservatives on the court. The consequences of their inevitable ruling will be devastating. Audio Article ●  By Paul Butler ●  Read more »       ADVERTISEMENT   Behind the 'power law': How a forgotten venture capitalist kick-started Silicon Valley Arthur Rock's bold approach to finance shapes modern life. The Opinions Essay ●  By Sebastian Mallaby ●  Read more »   The carping over Biden's Supreme Court pledge is historically inaccurate and racially tinged What about candidate Reagan saying "it is time for a woman" before nominating Sandra Day O'Connor? By Ruth Marcus ●  Read more »       ADVERTISEMENT   What concerns me most about Neil Young's Spotify fight It's a battle of freedom of association vs. social cohesion. By Sonny Bunch ●  Read more »   The fight ahead in Ukraine: Body bags and cyberwar Unless the West bends, this war will almost certainly end with a defeat for Putin, and Russians rebelling at the cost of this "war of choice." By David Ignatius ●  Read more »       People love to talk about dead Jews. Here's why it can hurt living ones. When Jews talk about how targeted they feel, a predictable series of objections greet them. By Dara Horn ●  Read more »     We think you'll like this newsletter Check out The 5-Minute Fix for a weekday afternoon cheat sheet on the biggest story in politics — that can be read in 5 minutes or less. Sign up »

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