Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
Page Number: 160.0

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

21 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

2382,  2416  (2021)  (“[E]ducational  opportunities  . . .  allow 
for social mobility, better life outcomes, and the ability to 
participate equally in the social and economic life of the de-
mocracy”).    Stark  racial  disparities  exist,  for  example,  in
unemployment  rates,15  income  levels,16  wealth  and  home-
ownership,17 and healthcare access.18  See also Schuette v. 
BAMN, 572 U. S. 291, 380–381 (2014) (SOTOMAYOR, J., dis-
senting)  (noting  the  “persistent  racial  inequality  in  soci-
ety”); Gratz, 539 U. S., at 299–301 (Ginsburg, J., dissenting) 
(cataloging  racial  disparities  in  employment,  poverty,
healthcare,  housing,  consumer  transactions,  and  educa-
tion).

Put  simply,  society  remains  “inherently  unequal.” 
Brown,  347  U. S.,  at  495.    Racial  inequality  runs  deep  to 
this  very  day.    That  is  particularly  true  in  education,  the 
“ ‘most vital civic institution for the preservation of a demo-
cratic system of government.’ ”  Plyler v. Doe, 457 U. S. 202, 
221, 223 (1982).  As I have explained before, only with eyes
open to this reality can the Court “carry out the guarantee 
of equal protection.”  Schuette, 572 U. S., at 381 (dissenting 
opinion). 

2 
Both UNC and Harvard have sordid legacies of racial ex-
clusion.  Because “[c]ontext matters” when reviewing race-
conscious college admissions programs, Grutter, 539 U. S., 

—————— 

15 ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2023, p. 402 (Ta-
ble  622)  (noting  Black  and  Latino  adults  are  more  likely  to  be  unem-
ployed).

16 Id., at 173 (Table 259). 
17 A.  McCargo  &  J.  Choi,  Closing  the  Gaps:  Building  Black  Wealth 

Through Homeownership (2020) (fig. 1). 

18 Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Health Insurance Coverage in 
the United States: 2021, p. 9 (fig. 5); id., at 29 (Table C–1), https://www. 
census.gov/library/publications/2022/demo/p60-278.html  (noting  racial 
minorities, particularly Latinos, are less likely to have health insurance 
coverage).