As he began reading excerpts of his decision eviscerating college affirmative action, Chief Justice John Roberts delivered on a singular long-held goal in a hushed courtroom Thursday. He had won a majority to roll back 45 years of Supreme Court precedent to further his view that race, for better or worse, should not matter.“Racial classifications are too pernicious,” Roberts said at the beginning of 50 minutes of high drama in the courtroom. Justices Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson criticize each other in the unusually sharp language in the affirmative action caseThe majority’s rejection of race-based admissions practices at Harvard and the University of North Carolina – programs replicated in schools nationwide – amounts to a seismic reversal of court reasoning and regard for the value of campus diversity.