A federal appeals court will hear a long-running challenge to college affirmative action policies on Wednesday, nearly six years after the case against Harvard began and as America confronts intensifying racial divisions.
The lawsuit was initiated on behalf of Asian Americans by a conservative advocate who has long opposed racial policies that have primarily benefited Blacks and Hispanics. The US Department of Justice joined the lawsuit, siding with the challengers to Harvard, after President Donald Trump took office.
Wednesday’s oral arguments before a Boston-based US appeals court move the case closer to a showdown at the US Supreme Court, which first endorsed racial affirmative action designed for campus diversity in 1978 by a 5-4 vote. The court has continued to narrowly uphold admissions programs that consider a…
