Q. [Inaudible]—the court decision on affirmative action?
The President. Well, obviously, I disagree with the decision. But the court has made it, and I'm not going to quarrel with that. But all our position has been is we shouldn't let affirmative action deteriorate into a quota system that would then be counter-discriminary—or discriminatory.
Q. That's against your grain, isn't it? It's against your grain, then? Isn't it against your philosophy?
The President. What?
Q. The decision is against your philosophy?
The President. Well, the philosophy is antidiscrimination, but now I think we've come to a point that we can be antidiscrimination both ways.
Q. Did Mrs. Reagan like the decision? The President. What?
Q. Did Mrs. Reagan like the decision?
The President. Well, we haven't talked about it.
Note: The exchange began at 9:52 a.m. at the South Portico of the White House, prior to the President's departure for Columbia, MO. The Supreme Court had recently upheld a voluntary affirmative action plan for public employees to correct sex discrimination.
Ronald Reagan, Informal Exchange With Reporters Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/252372
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