Although much has been said and written about the Bakke case, its significance and potential impact cannot be overstated. The case, currently pending before the United States Supreme Court, specifically concerns the legality of the special admissions program at UC Davis Medical School, under which a goal of sixteen out of a hundred total admissions sloes are allocated for disadvantaged minorities. More generally, the case touches upon the legality of all race-conscious programs giving “preference” to minorities as a means of countering the effects of past and present discrimination against Third World people

Legally at stake is the resolution of differing interpretations of the Constitution and the establishment of new legal doctrine. While the discussion of the legal issues is beyond the scope of this paper, and is probably not relevant given the fact that resolution of the case ultimately rests upon political grounds and extralegal values, an important paradox should be pointed out. The constitutional basis of Bakke’s claim of “reverse discrimination” is the 14th Amendment, which guarantees to all persons “equal protection of the laws.” This constitutional amendment was passed after the Civil War during the Reconstruction Period to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves