Affirmative action - a touchstone of the
The federal agency denied reports that it might file lawsuits against any colleges and universities perceived to discriminate against white applicants.
The justice department said it was actually trying to resolve a complaint - left unresolved by the Obama administration - alleging bias against Asian-Americans in higher education admissions.
The story reopened the debate over allegations that a policy designed to increase diversity in academia has been unfair to certain students.
A US Supreme Court ruling in 2016 gave universities latitude in considering race as one of the many factors in a "holistic" evaluation of an applicant, but rejected the notion of fulfilling a racial quota.
Do white American students really lose out to minority students? Here are two opposing views, from former justice department official Roger Clegg and civil rights lawyer Brenda Shum.
Is affirmative action fair?
Mr Clegg: I simply think it's unfair to treat people differently because of skin colour and as a lawyer, I think that it's not consistent with the way our laws read. I think it's a bad idea and I would oppose it if I were somehow or other a beneficiary of it.
I remember when I was interviewing for a law professor job at one point, and I was told point blank that I was not likely to get this job because of my skin colour. I was taken aback that I would be told that so bluntly by someone in a law school.
Here is somebody who has worked very hard and yet they are being told that their odds are going to be not just a little less, but a lot worse than other people who have lower academic qualifications but the right skin colour.
The personal stories are certainly out there, but I think for anybody who thinks seriously about this question, giving a preference because of race ought to raise red flags.
Ms Shum: During law school I had a male classmate talk to me about how he believed that I that was admitted to the law school simply because of affirmative action. This really wasn't a hostile conversation, I think, it was an attempt to open up a dialogue and this is truly what he believed - that there was a number of white applicants, particularly white male applicants, who were qualified and denied admission to our law school [University of Washington School of Law in Seattle] simply because the school had a commitment to diversity on campus.
The school had a diversity policy that, consistent with the constitution, really looked at all aspects of their prospective student population. I think I was one of the first classes that had slightly more women than male law students. They made a really concerted effort to have racial diversity and I think that was really instrumental to adding to the discourse that we had during our law school career.
Both personally and professionally, I've had the benefit of seeing how instrumental race-based admissions policies can be in terms of ensuring that there are integrated learning environments that really promote those educational benefits of diversity - that research is telling us - to all students.
