TOW #24 John Cassidy, "Another Good Day for the Conservative Backlash"

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           Today, many people would like to believe that racial discrimination is nonexistent in the United States. Unfortunately, minorities are still suffering from discrimination, and John Cassidy, a writer for The New Yorker, believes that the Supreme Court is at fault. In Cassidy’s essay, “Another Good Day for the Conservative Backlash” he uses historical allusions, as well as quotes from Supreme Court justices to prove through a recent Michigan trial how the Supreme Court is turning America backwards.

        Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in a Michigan trial that colleges can not use the race of an applicant when determining whether to or not to accept a student. Cassidy uses historical allusions to help the reader understand the context of this issue. Cassidy mentions, “It’s been almost fifty years since Richard Nixon settled on his “Southern strategy” of mobilizing white voters alienated by civil-rights reforms. Almost the same amount of time has elapsed since the John Olin Foundation and other conservative groups set out to rein in the nation’s courts, and, in particular, the Supreme Court, which had played a key role in expanding the civil-rights agenda.” Cassidy uses this allusion to show how civil rights have been a major American issue for a while, and that the people who were to blame for discrimination in the past are still in the supreme court today. The allusion also shows that Cassidy does not agree with the recent supreme court ruling since he claims that the conservative supreme court justices that are ruling today, were the same ones that were ruling against the civil rights movement.

Cassidy also uses quotes to show how the supreme court is turning America backwards. Cassidy quotes Justice Sotomayor, “Between 2006 and 2011, the proportion of black freshmen among those enrolled at the University of Michigan declined from 7 percent to 5 percent, even though the proportion of black college-aged persons in Michigan increased from 16 to 19 percent.” This anecdote helps Cassidy prove his point that the supreme court is going in the wrong direction by ending affirmative action because in 2006 Michigan colleges were no longer allowed to use race as a determinant to accept an applicant. Since there was a decline of African-American students at a Michigan college, the need for affirmative action is shown. Cassidy’s inclusion of Justice Sotomayor’s statement shows how the supreme court is hurting a minority group by banning affirmative action.

During a time in which race should not be a barrier between people, the supreme court recently banned affirmative action, which helps those who are at a disadvantage when applying to colleges because of their race. John Cassidy wrote, “Another Good Day for the Conservative Backlash” to prove how the banning of affirmative action was wrong, and is pushing back American progress with racism. Cassidy proves this through his use of historical allusion and quotes. Cassidy raises the question of whether the banning of affirmative action is just one of the many issues that the supreme court will decide upon that will set America back to the problems of the 1950’s and beyond.