Board of Regents v. Bakke Mock Trial Reaction

Today in Court we were presented with the Board of Regents v. Bakke; a case that was based off of the University of California's Medical School. The school decided to reserve 10 seats for African Americans only. Bakke was rejected from the medical school even though he had been more qualified than those who were accepted, and he argued that his rejection was because of the color of his race, which ultimately violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. 

The Board of Regents proposed their side first. At the beginning they addressed the systemic inequality of the time, how other schools like Clemson and Arizona State were showing a rise in their affirmative action programs. They said that affirmative action wasn't about punishing one specific group, yet it was a promise that the public institutions will strive to represent the diversity of the people. 

One of the statements that still sticks with me to writing this reaction is about the diversity in the program. Creating diversity in the medical school ultimately helps the learning environment and atmosphere, in hopes of benefiting all students. This isn't intended to specifically put any group at a disadvantage, it simply wants to level the playing field for all individuals. 

With that it mind, the program is ensuring that future doctors will be able to understand and serve patients of all walks of life. They're not just simply lowering the standards of their medical school, yet that are just enlarging the criteria. 

Next up to the podium was the defendants of Bakke. Allan Bakke was a white individual who had applied to the University of California medical school, he had a great score on the MCAT exam, and on top of that had a higher GPA than others who had been admitted over him. This group argued that discrimination in any form against any person is wrong and is simply unconstitutional because of the 14th amendment. 

It was argued that students applying to medical programs should be equally judged by the universities based purely on their grades and test scores. The defendants mentioned that someone would say that they want to be accepted into a program because they deserved to be, not because their race made them more qualifying. 

The most qualified individuals should be trained and therefore when they enter the workforce, it will increase economic opportunity. Medical school is a highly competitive program to be admitted into, and as said during the trial, creating a less efficient medical market allows people who are unprepared to be treating patients to be put on the spot because they were only accepted for their race. 

All in all, the judge decided at the end of the mock trial that neither side wins. He said that policies should be completely changed and that race is only one aspect of the entire process, but should be factored in with all other things. 

This case was very interesting to learn from and hear argue in front of me. I think that both sides did a good job in presenting their view and how the case should be looked at. While in my eyes I would side with Mr. Bakke, I see how the judge made his decision and based on the information that was provided, I can also agree with him on how neither side should technically win. 

The Three Civil Rights Workers - EOTO

Three civil rights workers with the names of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman disappeared on June 21, 1964 near the town of Philadelphia Mississippi. What is now known and has developed into Mississippi Burning, the KKK had its eyes on this young group of men, men who had been very active in organizing local boycotts and trying to bring to light the importance of equality and justice for all. 

Chaney was an activist with the Congress of Racial Equality, also known as CORE. Passionate for the rights of black citizens, he worked in a fight for achieving their voting rights. Goodman and Schwerner were college students from New York who had been apart of the Freedom Summer initiative. Similar to Chaney, this initiative aimed to increase voter registration among African Americans in Mississippi. 

In June of 1964, the three men joined hundreds of other activists with similar viewpoints as them to participate in Freedom Summer, or the Mississippi Summer Project. This was a registration drive that hoped to increase the number of registered Black voters in Mississippi. African Americans weren’t the only ones apart of this campaign though, over 700 white volunteers joined them to fight against voter intimidation and discrimination occurring at the polls. 

On the 16th of June, a Black church located in Neshoba County was burned down; activists including Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman sought to go to the location and investigate the incident. 5 days later, on June 21st, the three were driving to the church when they were arrested for allegedly speeding. While they were only held in jail for about three hours, members of the Ku Klux Klan found out about them being in the area, and just like that they were abducted. 

When no one had heard from the men the next morning, a massive search for them had been initiated. Local citizens, civil rights groups, federal authorities including the FBI had joined in on the search, becoming one of the largest investigations in Mississippi. 

From June 24th to August 3rd, a massive search that included the National Guard had been going on. From back roads to swamps to hollows, people were doing anything and everything in order to find out an answer about the men. At this point, the worst had already been assumed, but there was still no evidence that supported either side. 

Finally, on August 4th, 1964, the bodies of the three men were discovered in a dam located near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their deaths drew a significant amount of media attention to the civil rights movement and highlighted the violence that many activists in the South faced during the time. While several Klan members were compromised, the justice for the three men was extremely slow and they even received lesser charges further instituting the racism that occurred in the South during the time period. 

This incident heightened awareness for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their story continues to serve as an indicator for the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in America, and it creates a telescopic view of the public outrage of the situation that ultimately drives the need for legislative change.