In fact, to say that she is a lightweight, who has bought into the current populist ideology on race and identity, is an understatement. Her reasoning would not be expected of a mediocre masters student.
Interesting that the individual opinions allow for analysis and rebuttal. In this one Justice Thomas masterfully shreds Justice Jackson's opinion.
It has been suggested that the six-member majority are ideologically driven, but, in this case and recent others, it seems evident to me that it is the dissenting three "liberals'" who are allowing ideology to trump principle.
From Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, decided June 29 (citations omitted):
"Justice [Ketanji Brown] Jackson uses her broad observations about statistical relationships between race and select measures of health, wealth, and well-being to label all blacks as victims. Her desire to do so is unfathomable to me. I cannot deny the great accomplishments of black Americans, including those who succeeded despite long odds.
Nor do Justice Jackson’s statistics . . . prove anything. Of course, none of those statistics are capable of drawing a direct causal link between race—rather than socioeconomic status or any other factor—and individual outcomes. So Justice Jackson supplies the link herself: the legacy of slavery and the nature of inherited wealth. This, she claims, locks blacks into a seemingly perpetual inferior caste. Such a view is irrational; it is an insult to individual achievement and cancerous to young minds seeking to push through barriers, rather than consign themselves to permanent victimhood. . . .
Individuals are the sum of their unique experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. What matters is not the barriers they face, but how they choose to confront them. And their race is not to blame for everything—good or bad—that happens in their lives. A contraire, myopic world view based on individuals’ skin color to the total exclusion of their personal choices is nothing short of racial determinism."