New York Efforts To Pay Slavery Reparations Will Be ‘Vigorously Challenged,’ Says Man Behind Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Case

Any New York state reparations legislation will be “vigorously challenged in federal court,” the reformer behind the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to block affirmative action in higher education, Edward Blum, tells the Sun.  His comments come as the state’s reparations commission, signed into law by Governor Hochul last year, is meeting on Monday to hear from the public — and as the clock is ticking towards its one-year deadline to come up with a recommendations report that is expected to shape legislative policy on reparations. “Any legislation that awards reparations or benefits based on race or ethnicity will be vigorously challenged in federal court,” Mr. Blum tells the Sun in an email. “Racial proxies, including ancestral servitude and past discrimination, will be challenged as well.” Mr. Blum is the president of Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in the cases challenging Harvard University’s and the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions policies. Mr. Blum, who has spent decades rallying against race-based policies, scored a major legal victory in the case when the Supreme Court held in 2023 that the universities’ admission policies violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.  “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it,” as Chief Justice...