Fox News contributor Leo Terrell slammed affirmative action during a Monday appearance on “The Faulkner Focus.”
The Supreme Court is considering a case on affirmative action college admission policies at Harvard University and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to decide whether race can play a factor in admitting applicants. An 18-year-old Asian student named Jon Wang told Fox News that affirmative action policies prevented him from being admitted into the nation’s top-tier schools despite his exceptionally high SAT and ACT scores.
“The left needs to continue to play the race card … they still think it’s 1965, 1975. They need to keep playing the race card,” said Terrell, a civil rights attorney. “There is no need for affirmative action. You give people the opportunity to achieve and do hard work. This young man [Wang] did hard work, achieved, but because of his skin color, he’s gonna be denied. Why? Because of the equity game. This left-wing administration plays the equity game at the expense of hurting hard-working people.”
Terrell accused the media of manipulating Asian Americans into supporting affirmative action. Polls have shown most Asian Americans think affirmative action is a good thing, yet a Pew Research poll found only 21 percent believe race should be a factor in college admissions decisions. (RELATED: ‘You’re Being Arrogant’: Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, Leo Terrell Go Back And Forth On Trump Verdict)
“It’s the manipulation and the mindset that, really, the left-wing media has still control over the public, thinking that people are being denied opportunities because of skin color,” Terrell said. “Harris, that doesn’t exist! Look at you, look at me, look at this country. Is this country more diverse now than it was 30, 40 years ago? You don’t need the answer to that question. It’s obviously yes. We have people of all colors at every aspect of government.”
“Oh by the way, we had a black president,” he continued. “Oh by the way, we have people of all different colors running the country. Look at New York, Chicago, Los Angeles. The race card is being played at the disadvantage of people who work hard, like this young man, who achieved and [is] being punished because of skin color. I want to be very clear, this case should be stricken down by the Supreme Court, affirmative action is not everlasting. It should be terminated as of today.”
Terrell went on to criticize the left for calling the U.S. a “systemically racist” country where black and brown people are “not good enough” to achieve success without government assistance.