Conservative US Supreme Court reconsidering affirmative action, leaving the use of race in college admissions on the brink of extinction

The U.S. Supreme Court in its official portrait on Oct. 7, 2022. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. military learned a valuable lesson about race during the Vietnam War: Diversity does not happen without affirmative action.

That helps explain why a distinguished group of 35 military officials wrote a brief to the Supreme Court supporting the use of race as a part of college admissions – as the U.S. military has done at its four service academies over the last nearly 50 years.