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Page Number: 102

54  STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT 

AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE 
THOMAS, J., concurring 

Jack rather than John—both are black, after all.  And what 
about  members  of  the  numerous  other  racial  and  ethnic 
groups in our Nation?  What about Anne, the child of Chi-
nese immigrants?  Jacob, the grandchild of Holocaust sur-
vivors who escaped to this Nation with nothing and faced
discrimination  upon  arrival?  Or  Thomas,  the  great-
grandchild of Irish immigrants escaping famine?  While ar-
ticulating  her  black  and  white  world  (literally),  JUSTICE 
JACKSON  ignores  the  experiences  of  other  immigrant 
groups (like Asians, see supra, at 43–44) and white commu-
nities that have faced historic barriers. 
  Though JUSTICE JACKSON seems to think that her race-
based theory can somehow benefit everyone, it is an immu-
table  fact  that  “every  time  the  government  uses  racial 
criteria to ‘bring the races together,’ someone gets excluded, 
and the person excluded suffers an injury solely because of 
his  or  her  race.”  Parents  Involved,  551  U. S.,  at  759 
(THOMAS,  J.,  concurring)  (citation  omitted).    Indeed, 
JUSTICE JACKSON seems to have no response—no explana-
tion at all—for the people who will shoulder that burden. 
How,  for  example,  would  JUSTICE  JACKSON  explain  the
need for race-based preferences to the Chinese student who 
has  worked  hard  his  whole  life,  only  to  be  denied  college
admission in part because of his skin color?  If such a bur-
den would seem difficult to impose on a bright-eyed young 
person, that’s because it should be. History has taught us
to abhor theories that call for elites to pick racial winners 
and losers in the name of sociological experimentation. 

Nor  is  it  clear  what  another  few  generations  of  race- 
conscious  college  admissions  may  be  expected  to  accom-
plish.  Even today, affirmative action programs that offer 
an  admissions  boost  to  black  and  Hispanic  students  dis-
criminate against those who identify themselves as mem-
bers  of  other  races  that  do  not  receive  such  preferential 
treatment.  Must others in the future make sacrifices to re-