How the US supreme court’s affirmative action ruling unleashed anti-DEI cases

Edward Blum before the start of the trial in a lawsuit accusing Harvard University of discriminating against Asian American applicants, in Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 October 2018. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Days after the US supreme court ruled affirmative action in college admissions unconstitutional, the legal activist behind the big win for conservatives called the ruling “the end of the beginning”.

“This issue of race and ethnicity in our public lives is not going to go away,” Edward Blum told the New York Times in July 2023. “All of these preferences, whether it’s in the employment arena, contracting arena, internships – all of that I think will be energized by this supreme court opinion. And we’re blessed to have this supreme court opinion.”