Posted July 15, 2003

The Supreme Court's shameful, and sharply divided, decision last month regarding race-based preferences in higher education seems to have taken the wind out of some conservatives' sails. In a recent article in The National Law Journal, conservative Michael Greve, a long-time opponent of race-based "affirmative action" policies, believes that after Grutter v. Bollinger it is now "harder to persuade people this is a righteous fight." The conservative will to fight racial discrimination and defend justice is broken; "the broader question is settled and everything else is sort of skirmishes."

But not all conservatives are throwing up their hands in defeat. Some patriots in Colorado are pledging themselves to fight for individual rights, and the principle that a man ought to be judged by his character, not his skin color. Claremont Institute Vice President Thomas Krannawitter explains why they are right, and why the arguments for affirmative action cannot stand on their own grounds. To read his article, "The Ugly Politics of the Boxes," visit the Claremont Institute's website at www.claremont.org or click here.