He was twice denied admission, even though is test scores were higher than those of several minority applicants who were admitted. In response to Bakke's challenge of the admission policy, the Court ruled that the school must admit Bakke, but it did not ban the use of quotas if they were aimed at redressing current and past discrimination against minorities. Public disfavor with this more aggressive brand of affirmative action in California, however, grew to point that in 1996 voters in that state passed a proposition banning the use of quotas in university admissions in the University of California system. Several legal challenges to the Proposition have failed and the policy has remained in place. Since that time, admission of minorities to some schools and programs in the state system of higher education have dropped significantly.
Critics complain that minorities are now being unfairly denied educational opportunities.
In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the state of California, alleging that inner-city high schools offer far fewer Advanced Placement courses than affluent suburban schools. Affirmative action remains controversial not because there is widespread public sentiment in support of racial discrimination. In fact, notwithstanding the persistence of pockets of racism in the United States, the American public is highly critical of racial and ethnic intolerance and discrimination. Instead, the controversy about affirmative action centers on broad disagreement about the best way to fight discrimination in the present and to make amends for past discrimination. Others have countered that there are several better alternatives to affirmative action, at least in the form of quotas and set-asides.