The ultraconservative US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down an affirmative action program at universities in another historic reversal, a year after it overturned a ruling on abortion, AFP reported.

Six conservative justices ruled against three progressives that campus admissions procedures based on applicants’ skin color or ethnicity are unconstitutional.

Many universities “mistakenly believed that the basis of a person’s identity was not the tests they took, the skills they acquired, or the lessons they learned, but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate this,” Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

“In other words, a student should be treated based on their individual experience, not based on race,” he added.

Since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, a number of highly selective universities have introduced racial and ethnic criteria into their admissions procedures to redress inequities stemming from the United States’ segregationist past.

These policies, known as “affirmative action,” have helped increase black, Hispanic and Native American student enrollment, but have always been heavily criticized in conservative circles, which see them as opaque and “reverse racism.”

Since 1978, the Supreme Court has ruled against quotas several times, but has always allowed universities to take racial criteria into account, among other things.

For now, she considered it “legitimate” to seek greater diversity on college campuses, even if it meant violating the principle of equality among all American citizens.

Joy in the Republican camp, disappointment in the Democratic camp / Trump’s success

The Supreme Court decision drew applause from the right. “It’s a big day for America,” we’re returning to a merit-based system, former Republican President Donald Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social, the idea behind the turnaround as he overhauled the Court during his time in office. .

Instead, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the “flawed decision” that “places a gigantic obstacle in the way of greater racial justice.”

A more reserved Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, noted that “affirmative action has never been the complete answer to the need to build a more just society.” But she “gave us a chance to show that we deserve more than a seat at the table,” he added on Twitter.

The strongest criticism came from the Court itself, whose three progressive justices noted their deep disagreement with their colleagues.

“Six unelected members of the majority overturned the status quo based on their political preferences,” Sonia Sotomayor wrote on their behalf. They preferred to “shut down a society where the race problem matters and will matter.”

It’s true that universities are allowed to consider applicants’ “personal experience” and the impact of skin color on their careers, but that’s like “feeding a pig lipstick,” she said.