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20  STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT 

AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE 
SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

interlocked factors place underrepresented minorities mul-
tiple  steps  behind  the  starting  line  in  the  race  for  college
admissions. 

In North Carolina, the home of UNC, racial inequality is
deeply  entrenched  in  K–12  education.    State  courts  have 
consistently  found  that  the  State  does  not  provide  un-
derrepresented  racial  minorities  equal  access  to  educa-
tional  opportunities,  and  that  racial  disparities  in  public 
schooling have increased in recent years, in violation of the 
State Constitution.  See, e.g., Hoke Cty. Bd. of Ed. v. State, 
2020  WL  13310241,  *6,  *13  (N. C.  Super.  Ct.,  Jan.  21, 
2020); Hoke Cty. Bd. of Ed. v. State, 382 N. C. 386, 388–390, 
879 S. E. 2d 193, 197–198 (2022). 

These  opportunity  gaps  “result  in  fewer  students  from 
underrepresented  backgrounds  even  applying  to”  college, 
particularly elite universities.  Brief for Massachusetts In-
stitute  of  Technology  et al.  as  Amici  Curiae 32.  “Because 
talent lives everywhere, but opportunity does not, there are
undoubtedly talented students with great academic poten-
tial who have simply not had the opportunity to attain the 
traditional indicia of merit that provide a competitive edge
in the admissions process.”  Brief for Harvard Student and 
Alumni Organizations as Amici Curiae 16.  Consistent with 
this reality, Latino and Black students are less likely to en-
roll  in  institutions  of  higher  education  than  their  white 
peers.14 

Given  the  central  role that  education  plays  in  breaking 
the cycle of racial inequality, these structural barriers rein-
force other forms of inequality in communities of color.  See 
E.  Wilson,  Monopolizing  Whiteness,  134  Harv.  L. Rev. 

—————— 
Developmental Psychology 11 (2016); A. Kenly & A. Klein, Early Child-
hood Experiences of Black Children in a Diverse Midwestern Suburb, 24
J. African American Studies 130, 136 (2020). 

14 Dept. of Education, National Center for Education, Institute of Edu-
cational Science, The Condition of Education 2022, p. 24 (2020) (fig. 16).