Board of Regents v. Bakke Reaction

 So today we were given the opportunity to get some insight from the trial about the Bakke case, and all together both sides brought a good argument to their table and defended their ideals and reasonings behind them.  I've never really thought deeply about affirmative action before, but this mock trial totally changed my perspective.

The case basically came down to this white guy ( Alan Bakke ) who was mad about the University of California Medical School reserving 16 spots out of 100 for minority students. He argued this was reverse discrimination.  His point seems to make sense but at the same time confuses me a little bit. Reserving spots for minority seems to be a great case for equality and really making sure that certain people of color or other races who might not have as much opportunity as the white folk, get included. But at the same time, reserving those 16 spots leaves only 84 open spots for white people to be able to be accepted. Better applicants might be left out just for the possible reasoning that minory students are secured the spots. In my eyes, I understand both sides but still found it extremely conflicting. 

What blew my mind was how complicated both sides legal arguments got. The University's team talked about how universities have historically shut out minority students and how their admissions program was trying to fix that long standing problem.


I was interested by their argument about diversity being crucial in fields like medicine. I learned that having doctors from different backgrounds means better healthcare for everyone. That opened my eyes because how can you effectively treat patients, if you don't have certain doctors that understand their different experiences?

Bakke's team had some pretty interesting points too. They argued that the 14th Amendment should mean everyone gets treated exactly the same. The point that was using race as a factor in admissions is still a form of discrimination even if it's meant to help minorities.

These points reminded me of my own separate-but-equal arguments from doing my own Brown v. Board case.The key takeaway was that race could be one factor in admissions. But can't be the determining factor. It came to be that universities can consider diversity, but can't have strict racial quotas set in place.


Personally, this mock trial made me realize how complex these legal discussions are. It's not just black v. white. These trials prove that there are real meaningful arguments on both sides about fairness/opportunity. And both sides are trying to implement understanding on how we try to fix historical wrongs.

I think that this mock trial was a newer experience in terms of not having an argument be completely obvious. Normally, it feels like both sides are arguing valid reasons, but one side has to argue a side they know is wrong regardless. In this case, it seems as if both sides actually could be in the right, it's just a matter of understanding point of view.

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