Crenshaw: 'Affirmative action is unconstitutional ... Justice Clarence Thomas got it right'

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Atascocita) praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday to eliminate affirmative action in college admissions, tweeting that using race “is unconstitutional.”

“Justice Clarence Thomas got it right,” Crenshaw tweeted, referencing the former’s remarks on how he has hope the country “will live up to its principles” stated in the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down affirmative action, which it believes violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, according to a report from Fox News. Fox News reported that Thomas, along with Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, voted in support of striking down affirmative action, while Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kegan dissented. Per the report, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson opposed it in part because she recused herself from the Harvard University case connected to the ruling in response to her past work with Harvard’s Board of Overseers.

Encyclopedia Britannica defines affirmative action as a measure to increase the chances of women and people who belong to minority groups of affording educational and employment opportunities. One of the hallmarks of the Civil Rights Movement, it was implemented during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson nearly 60 years ago, per the article. Fox News reported that the ruling also took into consideration a similar situation at the University of North Carolina (UNC).

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee tweeted that the Supreme Court decision “is a national travesty.”

“Our government has for centuries failed to address the impacts on black Americans of slavery, gov-sponsored prohibitions from participating in our democracy and economy and systemic racism in public and private institutions,” Menefee said.

Houston CBS affiliate KHOU reported that Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill (SB) 17 into law earlier this month.

The legislation makes Texas the second state in the country to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at public colleges and universities, KHOU reported.