Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf
Page Number: 131

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

25 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

have read a solo opinion in Bakke like a statute while read-
ing Title VI as a mere suggestion.  A proper respect for the 
law demands the opposite.  Title VI bears independent force 
beyond the Equal Protection Clause.  Nothing in it grants
special deference to university administrators.  Nothing in
it  endorses  racial  discrimination  to  any  degree  or  for  any 
purpose.  Title VI is more consequential than that. 

* 
In  the  aftermath  of  the  Civil  War,  Congress  took  vital
steps  toward  realizing  the  promise  of  equality  under  the
law.  As important as those initial efforts were, much work 
remained to be done—and much remains today.  But by any
measure, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 stands as a landmark 
on this journey and one of the Nation’s great triumphs.  We 
have no right to make a blank sheet of any of its provisions.
And when we look to the clear and powerful command Con-
gress set forth in that law, these cases all but resolve them-
selves.  Under Title VI, it is never permissible “ ‘to say “yes” 
to one person . . . but to say “no” to another person’ ” even in 
part “ ‘because of the color of his skin.’ ”  Bakke, 438 U. S., 
at 418 (opinion of Stevens, J.).