For what it’s worth, California Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who introduced such legislation, may have been inspired by the consideration and respect reserved for legacy applicants (the children of wealthy alumni).
“For decades universities gave preferential admission treatment to donors, and their family members, while others tied to legacies of harm were ignored and at times outright excluded,” Assembly- member Bryan prefaced his legislative intent. “We have a moral responsibility to do all we can to right those wrongs.”
The idea to offer admission preference to descendants of slaves is not a California state original. Georgetown University, which was literally built by enslaved labor, began offering admissions preference, in 2016, to the descendants of 272 slaves it sold in 1838 for $3.3 million.
The university earns immense merit for acknowledging how stolen labor saved the campus from fiscal calamity. It also illustrates Georgetown’s interest in repairing the university’s relationship with the African American community.
Ever since the United States Supreme Court ruled affirmative action unconstitutional in 2023, the notion of legacy admissions has endured fierce scrutiny. Institutions like Harvard University sat on the receiving end of great pressure to dismantle their legacy admissions.
An analysis of data capturing admissions at colleges and universities that consider legacy status, shows acceptance decisions correlated with limiting higher education access for students of color.
Should California’s proposed legislation pass both the Assembly and the Senate then be signed into law, one could rest assured it will be challenged in the courts, just as the traditional legacy admissions has been forced to defend its practice in response to a federal civil rights complaint. Targeting Harvard College, the suit alleges “widespread violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
It is within the realm of possibility that “dueling” lawsuits — against traditional legacy admissions and opposing slavery legacy preference — could be winding their way through the court system in a year or two. Should either survive the long trek to the U. S. Supreme Court, it will be noteworthy to observe the national mood about racial justice and fairness in higher education.
Barring a “deathbed” conversion by any two of the conservative members of the high court, we can be certain a majority of the supreme jurists will see fit to knit further layers of denial between the present and our slave-owning past.
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(First published in Newsbreak on 3 Dec. 2024.)
Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash
