Trump Doesn’t Want To Promote Diversity No Matter What

If
there’s one thing Trump hates more than Obama, it’s legal policies that might
help out people that look like Obama.

Earlier
this week, the administration announced that it was rescinding Obama-era
guidelines based on Supreme Court decisions that advised colleges to consider
race on an individual basis in making admissions decisions in order to improve
diversity in schools.

Key
to keep in mind: the decision doesn’t actually bring affirmative action to a
halt. Many colleges, including Harvard, have already promised to vigorously
defend their right to consider race and the promotion of diversity when
accepting applicants, and the Supreme Court ruling Obama’s guidelines cited is
still in position.

Of
course, with a new Supreme Court Justice on the way and a case pending in the
courts regarding Asian-Americans and affirmative action, that may not mean much
for long.

This
first step is just that – the first step. It doesn’t rescind everything, but it
is part of a series of signals his administration has made towards what really
seems like an eventual plan to actively roll back affirmative action as well as
anything that might, in some severely distorted light, be seen as providing an
advantage to Black Americans.

And
let’s be clear that Black Americans are who Trump is targeting with this
decision. It is Black Americans, time and time again, Trump has made clear he
considers undeserving of “special treatment,” of opportunities for advancement
and growth.

Because he’ll probably point to the
Asian-Americans filing the lawsuit as proof that he’s on the side of minorities
– some minorities – so long as they’re not too dark and have done a background
check at his corporate event locations. He
may even consider it a tactical move to improve relations with China, somehow.
He’ll try to argue in a meeting with the president that the move makes American
colleges friendlier to Chinese applicants.

A
representative of the Justice Department promised that the government is
committed to fighting all forms of race-based discrimination. Knowing Trump’s
ilk, what that probably means is fighting any and all policies that might not
explicitly allow White Americans to retain an advantage. “Race-based
discrimination” coming from a Republican basically means “reverse racist” at
this point – they never want to talk about any other kind of racism (it’s funny
– they’ll believe reverse racism, but deny racism).

These
guidelines being rescinded don’t mean much alone, but it won’t be long until
the case does reach the Supreme Court, and while we’re all worried about the
Roe v. Wade case (and rightly so), Trump is almost certainly asking potential
candidates how they would vote on the matter of affirmative action as he vets
through them and makes a final decision.

This isn’t the end of Trump’s war on affirmative
action – it’s the beginning. Citizens can and should take to the streets in
protest at any opportunity, but it’s up to colleges and institutions to really
step up now and demonstrate that they too want to fight for the right to retain
as diverse a student body as possible. Universities never prosper from a lack
of diversity.