In Louisville, KY, Meredith v. Jefferson County Board was filed in part on behalf of a parent whose son–who is white–was rejected from transferring to another school due to the county’s voluntary desegregation policy. As a result of the Court’s 5-4 decision, all voluntary desegregation plans in public schools have been scrapped, with the use of race in school admissions severely limited.

Fifty years ago, America refused to admit black students to attend white schools. Now, today, we’re refusing to admit white students because they’re white? How can a policy that rejects/accepts students based on race alone not be called racism?

Certainly, I’m concerned about the result of white-only or black-only schools without desegregation policies. But is it fair to reject a student based on his or her race? Why do so many people believe that the differences between us lie in our skin color? If a white person and black person grew up with well-off parents, attended private school, and played lacrosse, I’d say they probably have a lot more in common than that same white kid and another white kid with a low-income background, divorced parents, and a public school education.

Desegregation policies don’t always benefit the students, either. Growing up, I lived in a low-income, racially diverse neighborhood, and my neighbors and I were bused to a high school about 30-45 minutes away, despite having three other (better) high schools less than 15 minutes away. Do you think we were happy waking up an extra hour every day for desegregation?

These rules go too far in attempting to achieve racial diversity in schools. Diversity is not only based on the color of our skin, but in our individual contributions to society stemming from our unique history. I believe it would be best for these and other districts to pursue other ways to improve diversity and overall quality in all their schools.