ESPN host Stephen A. Smith spoke out against the Supreme Court ending affirmative action in college admissions, arguing the African American community did not have an “unfair advantage” over other minority groups.
Smith said race was one of many considerations that colleges took into account when deciding whether to admit a student, but it wasn’t the sole determining factor.
He told “Fox News Tonight” that affirmative action was an “effort to even the playing scales to some degree because of the inequities exacted against the African American community in this country.”
“It wasn’t about giving them an advantage. It was about highlighting the fact that they were discriminated [against], meaning we were discriminated against at that particular moment in time. And that’s why the policy was instituted to begin with,” Smith argued.
Smith explained that affirmative action was implemented in the first place because African Americans were being “shortchanged.” “They were being denied the same privileges, or the same opportunities, that were accorded to White folks,” he argued.
A person protests outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 29, 2023. The Supreme Court last Thursday struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Host Will Cain pushed back on the argument, saying the country won’t solve past discrimination by implementing present and future discrimination.
“In Harvard, in the situation at Harvard, an African American student in the top 50% of his academic class, Stephan A, had just as good a chance as an Asian student or a White student in the top 10% of their class. Is that just? Is that just discrimination?” Cain asked.
“When do we stop discriminating on the basis of race?” he asked.
“When people in positions of power have proven that they’re exercising fairness come hell or high water. It’s really, really that simple,” Smith answered.
MSNBC’S JOY REID ADMITS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GOT HER INTO HARVARD
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“The only way we can make it better is people like yourself and myself talking about it honestly and openly.”
