The U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action decisions in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin highlighted the significance of race-neutral alternatives to race-based admissions plans. In that decision, the Court held that state universities engaging in race-based affirmative action programs bear the burden of demonstrating that available and workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice. This article argues that this is because race-neutral alternatives enable governmental actors to increase diversity and promote equal opportunity without racial balkanization. The Article also makes clear that in the narrow-tailoring inquiry, the Court requires affirmative action programs to not exhibit excessive race-consciousness so as to minimize the likelihood of racial balkanization.