By Emil Guillermo

The extension of child tax credits, universal pre-K, aid for seniors, immigrants, DACA recipients — all that would have been a nice Christmas gift to America.

Instead, Sen. Joe Manchin has become the Omicron of Congress, wiping out Biden’s Build Back Better plan.

As if that were the only thing we have to worry about.

Just as with abortion rights and voting rights, the future of affirmative action could be in the hands of a new 6-3 conservative Supreme Court.

And along the way, that issue is being used to divide Blacks, Latinos, and Asians.

We must not let that happen.

In California, affirmative action has already been made illegal in public employment, contracting and education when voters were fooled in 1996 by Prop. 209. When conservatives twisted the MLK quote about not being “judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” it became the driving force behind an ideal of “colorblindness.” That rhetorical trick ended affirmative action as a useful tool to eliminate discrimination and create equity in our state.

It’s still the law nationally, however. But conservatives are pressuring a court that now tilts their way to end affirmative action as discriminatory.

This time, the plaintiffs were smart. They recruited disgruntled recently immigrated Asian Americans who had been rejected from Harvard and organized them as white proxies.

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With these new “victims,” professional anti-affirmative action advocates sued Harvard for its admissions process that takes race into consideration. The white proxy Asians (WPA) claimed they were discriminated against even though Harvard has in recent years admitted more Asians than any other time in its history, reaching as high as 26% in recent years.

The white proxies lost in the district court, lost again in the federal court of appeals, and now they’re asking the Supreme Court to take up the case.

Before hearing it, the court asked the Biden administration to submit a brief, apparently to buy time. When you have a 6-3 conservative majority, the court is giddy with rollback fever. Abortion rights, voting rights, civil rights. The dance card is filled. Affirmative action — take a number.

The Biden administration has responded with a brief that affirms the lower courts’ view of Harvard’s admissions.

Yet, the new claim of the white proxies is that Asian Americans are now scapegoated because of the failures of the educational system.

The thinking is if a 4.0 Asian American doesn’t get in, then is it fair if another “less qualified” Black or Latino person gets in?

The proxies really believe that admissions should be totally numerical. Ranked by grades, top people get in. If that’s 100% Asian American, so be it. Fair is fair? Or is merit too exclusive?

Didn’t the fight for equity begin when schools like Harvard were 100% white?

100% anything isn’t right in America.

Harvard’s admissions actually follow the guidelines set by previous court precedents that allow race to be used in conjunction with other factors. Race is not the sole factor, and neither are just grades or just test scores. Or your violin solo.

And quotas are always illegal.

Admissions at Harvard complies with the law, which has long been considered settled. Like Roe v. Wade in abortion.

But the disgruntled stay persistent. And now the court could go 6-3 wrong in their favor, in what could be another beat in the great undoing of America.

You should know that the majority of Asian Americans actually support affirmative action and are in solidarity with Blacks and Latinos. We’re appalled that the AAPI community has been split, with one part used to attack other communities of color.

All this is coming to roost during the holiday “slowdown.” Let’s take the time to find and understand our common ground. Even with Omicron as a backdrop, we must stay positive, hopeful. And Merry. The fight for our future demands unity.

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. His talk show, “Emil Amok’s Takeout” is on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter @emilamok

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