Since the passage of Proposition 209, the number of blacks and Hispanics at the University of California-Berkeley and its law schools has fallen by half. Now, with the law unsettled and the Supreme Court divided, a decision could hinge on whether George W. Bush gets to appoint a Supreme Court justice. The University of Michigan case is important, in part, because big business has rallied behind its defense of affirmative action. Twenty-one major corporations have filed supportive legal briefs . The university argues that having a critical mass of minority students is crucial to providing a quality education for all students .
Race has weight in nearly every area of the law, from employment law to criminal law.
But attorney Kirk Kolbo, who represents the white students suing the university, says that argument is racist. It's wrong to perpetuate these stereotypes based on race. Philosophy professor Carl Cohen, who started the effort at Michigan to eliminate race as a factor in admissions, agrees that diversity enhances education but says schools can't violate the Constitution to do it. Then, she says, she realized that race was the type of diversity the school wanted. When I entered the workforce in the early 1970s, it wasn't the easiest environment for women.