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“In light of the sorry history of discrimination and its devastating impact on the lives of Negroes, bringing the Negro into the mainstream of American life should be a state interest of the highest order.”

Source: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, separate opinion, US Supreme Court, 28 June 1978

Context In the Court's first major affirmative action case, which struck down a medical school's racial quota, Marshall argued that race-conscious admissions were constitutional.

Portrait of Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood MarshallUnited States · 1908–1993
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