Global Courant
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., faced a deluge of criticism Thursday after speaking out on the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling, suggesting that the Supreme Court should not take its “ridiculous ‘color blindness’ claims” seriously. or else it would have “abolished” legacy recordings.
“If SCOTUS took their ridiculous ‘color blindness’ claims seriously, they would have done away with legacy admissions, otherwise known as affirmative action for the privileged,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet.
The “Squad” Democrat further noted that “70% of Harvard’s longtime applicants are white” and that the Supreme Court “didn’t do anything about it — which would have affected them and their patrons.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments came shortly after it was announced that the court had rejected the use of race as a factor in college admissions as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES CALLS OUT ‘RICH WHITE PEOPLE’ AFTER SCOTUS RESULT, CLARENCE THOMAS ADDS ‘IRRELEVANT HERE’
Several social media users disputing the legislator’s comments responded to Ocasio-Cortez, quick to point out that the Supreme Court was not hearing a case about college and university admissions — the practice of giving preference to alumni’s children.
“Absolute gibberish. There is no case for SCOTUS related to old recordings,” said one user explained in a tweet. “Moreover, the constitution specifically prohibits racial discrimination, not (privileges) for alumni relatives. That makes this a legal issue, rather than just a policy preference.”
“This is how AOC thinks the court works,” said Washington Free Beacon investigative reporter Joe Gabriel Simonson wrote in a tweet.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., said Thursday the Supreme Court “would have abolished probate confessions” if the justices were serious about “their ridiculous ‘color blindness’ claims.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Another user wrote, “But the purpose of old admissions is not to admit students based on race. It’s just an outcome you don’t like. Unlike affirmative action, which uses race as a selection criteria.”
“There’s bad politics, and then there’s ‘the court should have done away with something that was never brought to court,'” another said in a tweet.
Others, such as lawyer and conservative commentator Viva Frei, drew parallels between the percentage of white Harvard inheritance applicants and the total population of whites in America when they targeted Ocasio-Cortez.
GOP LAWMAKER APPLAUDES HIGHER COURT ACKNOWLEDGING ACTION EXCLUSION: ‘GREAT DAY FOR ALL AMERICANS’
“According to @AOC, Harvard is racist because 70% of legacy applicants are white. Just ignore the fact that 71% of America is white,” Frei wrote in a tweet.
The Supreme Court can be seen in Washington, D.C., on June 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Shri Thakur, chief of political affairs for Notre Dame College Republicans, highlighted the total number of white Americans and suggested that Harvard’s legacy admissions program “suggests that legacy helps minorities.”
“Besides, can any of these people discuss affirmative action without whataboutism? AOC isn’t very smart,” Thakur added in the tweet.
During a Thursday night interview with MSNBC’s Katy Tur, education secretary Miquel Cardona suggested that legacy admissions programs offered by Harvard and other institutions should be investigated, saying they “expand privileges, not opportunities.”
“We have to recognize that when we look at the tools used for college admissions, we have to look at all of them,” said Cardona, who previously served as Connecticut’s commissioner of education. “So right now, our focus is on providing colleges with information about the SCOTUS decision and what tools they still have available.”
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, a 2024 presidential candidate, called on colleges to end inheritance-based admissions.
Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, speaks at a campaign event at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in Manchester, NH, on May 25, 2023. (M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I think the question is how do you continue to create a culture where education is the goal for every part of our community? One of the things Harvard could do to make that even better is to eliminate old programs where they have preferential rights.” treatment for legacy children, not allowing the professors – their children to come to Harvard as well,” Scott said during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Faulkner Focus.”
In February, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D.N.Y., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Fair College Admissions for Students Act in an effort to “reform legacy and donor admissions practices at universities across the country and ensure equity in the admissions process.”
