University of California Medical School at Davis. v.s. Bakke

Allan Bakke a 35-year-old white male was denied from the University of California Medical School at Davis. Bakke was not only denied once but twice from this school. This medical school reserved 16 singular spots out of 100 for minority groups. The school applied this method to their classes as a solution to longstanding unequal exclusion for minorities of many other races than white. Allan Bakke was denied from this school while unqualified minorities were accepted. Bakke's qualifications were outstanding compared to all of the other minorities accepted over the two-year period that he applied.

Bakke did not believe it was fair for him to be rejected. He believed he was denied because of his race. When Bakke presented in court, he fought that the University of California violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, and violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This case concluded with a common term used often. This term is known as “affirmative action”. Affirmative action is a method used often throughout the university to abolish unlawful discrimination against applicants. This method eliminates prior, present, and future restraints among all applicants. This is usually seen when people are applying for jobs, educational jobs, programs, etc.

Since the school applied an affirmative action policy that resulted in Bakke being denied twice in a row from this medical school, there was a belief it was because of his race. The case concluded in an 8-to-1 decision in favor of Bakke. Allan Bakke's case directly correlates with Brown v the Board's argument. In this case, Brown argued that the buildings and facilities for African American students were inferior to those of white children. Brown ended up winning the case because the Supreme Court favored his argument. In Brown v the Board and California v Bakke, both plaintiffs sued under the same clause.

Both the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were violated in these cases. In both of these cases, there were similar arguments against the “quota”. Bakke believed since he was white that he was not being accepted to the school, and in Brown, v the Board it was believed since the kids were black they got treated worse. Both of these cases were won in favor of the plaintiffs. This also led to a turning point in Plessy v Fuegson, this case after Brown v the Board was overturned. Allan Bakke knew that the school quota was not equal or justified, this is why he fought in the courts.

The quota made by the school was in the belief that it was treating everyone equally but in reality, there was still discrimination behind the scenes. This is exactly how the Brown v Board case was won due to inequality and violation of the 14th amendment quota. Often quotas made to allow equality end in violation of an Amendment which is often seen throughout history. This is an issue. If Bakke did not speak up then there would have been no justice and prevented future incidents like this. This case was a major turning point in history. University of California Medical School at Davis. Vs. Bakke was significant for many future cases brought to our justice system.

Also, this case brought justice to prior cases. This has allowed so many people to be protected just a tiny bit more under our country's laws. This is just the start of many more unlawful acts, but also is one step closer to the end of many more. People often do not realize how every voice matters and everyone who speaks up have power whether you are African American or any race.