A Hollywood actor and comedian hailed the latest decision of the United States Supreme Court to strike down race-based admissions in colleges and universities.
The US Supreme Court on June 29 ruled that race can no longer be considered a factor in admitting students to higher education at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
Reports said that such a ruling garnered polar views between black people and Asian Americans.
Amid the varying reactions, Rob Schneider, a popular actor and comedian, welcomed this news.
In a tweet on that day, Rob thanked the U.S. Supreme Court for their ruling.
He also showed off a picture of his Filipino mom named Pilar Monroe Schneider in his tweet. Pilar passed away in 2021.
“I wish my Filipina mother, Pilar would have lived to see the day when Asian Americans were no longer discriminated against in Universities in America for simply being Asian,” Rob said.
“That day has come! Thank YOU, US Supreme Court!” he added with the hashtag #GoPinay.
I wish my Filipina mother, Pilar would have lived to see the day when Asian Americans were no longer discriminated against in Universities in America for simply being Asian.
That day has come!
Thank YOU, US Supreme Court! #GoPinoy pic.twitter.com/kOKW2xmna0— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) June 29, 2023
His tweet garnered four million views on the platform.
Rob gained fame for starring in American films alongside Adam Sandler. These include the “50 First Dates,” “Grown Ups” franchise, and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.”
He is also known for his films “The Hot Chick,” “The Animal,” and “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo,” among many others.
Upending affirmative action
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturned a decades-old legal precedent called “affirmative action” being implemented in elite colleges and universities in the US.
The US justices sided with an organization called Students for Fair Admissions, which was founded by an activist named Edward Blum.
Blum is a vocal critic of affirmative action.
Encyclopedia Britannica explains that affirmative action is a legal precedent in the US that aims “to improve employment, educational, and other opportunities for members of groups that have been subjected to discrimination.”
Policies surrounding this principle thus aim to promote diversity in these schools where people of color are protected against discrimination in their applications.
“Affirmative action in the United States protects people on the grounds of race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and age,” reads the explanation from Encyclopedia Britannica.
“It does this by giving limited preferences to groups that have faced long-standing discrimination in job hiring, admission to institutions of higher education, the awarding of government contracts, and other social benefits,” it added.
Divisive reactions
Reports said that several communities in the US also cheered for the removal of race-based admissions.
Some scholars and activists, however, expressed dismay and concern for the future of US education.
Meanwhile, in an interview with NPR, an activist named Jeff Chang perceived that Edward pitted Asian Americans against Black and Hispanic communities to achieve his goal of ending affirmative action.
“Asians were standing in as proxies for white students. That’s essentially the strategy that Ed Blum used,” he was quoted in the report as saying.
“In the case of university admissions over the past decade, Asians serve as this sort of mask for white privilege. A mask that white privilege can wear in order to hide itself,” Chang further said.
