Affirmative Action
On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided to reject affirmative action policies, putting an end to race-based admissions in colleges and universities across the country. This decision caused much controversy. Going forward, it is important to understand what this means for the future.
Supreme Court Of The United States
STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE No. 20–1199. Argued October 31, 2022—Decided June 29, 2023
What Is Affirmative Action?
Affirmative action policies were originally set in place to prevent discrimination in application processes in labor and educational settings. The policies set in place in educational settings were intended to increase diversity and create equal opportunities for underrepresented groups who may not have previously been granted these opportunities. Historically, seats at U.S. universities have primarily been filled with white students. Racial discrimination during the application process is just one contributing factor. Other factors keeping non-white students out of higher education include access to college-readiness coursework and resources to meet the high cost of tuition, among others.
In 1965, Black students only made up about 5% of undergraduate students. After affirmative action policies were established, between 1965 and 2001, the percentage of Black students doubled.
The number of Latino undergraduate students increased throughout that period as well. These statistics prove that affirmative action policies aid in increasing diversity. Let’s look at why that is so important.
Diversity is imperative because it creates a more enriched society. When people come together and share different perspectives, cultures, and experiences, it improves society. Diverse environments allow people to feel represented, valued, and to share a sense of belonging. Having diverse demographics in education, like in community engagement, creates an accurate reflection of our society. Underrepresented racial groups are just as capable of attending universities as the majority-represented group and should be afforded the same opportunities regardless of race. This is what affirmative action policies were intended to do.
What Happens Now?
Now that the Supreme Court ruled to end affirmative action policies in college admissions, what will happen? In the past, there have been states that have banned affirmative action policies in their universities. Katharine Meyer stated in an interview with Adrianna Pita, “In specific cases like California, but also pooling across all of these states, we see that the enrollment of Black, Hispanic, and Native students drops significantly, immediately. In California, it was around a 30 to a 40 percent drop in Black and Hispanic enrollment after the selective institutions were no longer able to consider race.” I think it’s safe to say we can look to these results to get an idea of what the end of affirmative action will look like on a national scale.
Photo by Ira Wilder / The Daily Tar Heel
Protesters gather outside of the Supreme Court of the United States before oral arguments in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. vs. the University of North Carolina on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.
Dissent
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized her colleague's decision in her dissent.
“But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life. And having so detached itself from this country’s actual past and present experiences, the Court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of higher learning are doing to solve America’s real-world problems. No one benefits from ignorance. Although formal racelinked legal barriers are gone, race still matters to the lived experiences of all Americans in innumerable ways, and today’s ruling makes things worse, not better. The best that can be said of the majority’s perspective is that it proceeds (ostrich-like) from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism. But if that is its motivation, the majority proceeds in vain. If the colleges of this country are required to ignore a thing that matters, it will not just go away. It will take longer for racism to leave us. And, ultimately, ignoring race just makes it matter more.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama shared her thoughts on Twitter as well.
Takeaways
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three principles we value at Civility Localized. Everyone should have equal access to education, regardless of their race. We tend to agree with former President Barack Obama’s viewpoint on the end of affirmative action:
“Affirmative action was never a complete answer in the drive towards a more just society. But for generations of students who had been systematically excluded from most of America’s key institutions—it gave us the chance to show we more than deserved a seat at the table.”
Affirmative action was set in place to help provide fair and equal opportunity to all. Revoking these policies will devastate the college admissions process and in so doing, the future of this country.
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At Civility Localized, not only are we a diverse group of professionals, we are an organization committed to amplifying the voices of marginalized communities every day. We don’t take the end of affirmative action lightly. We know that the work we do matters more at this moment in time because of this SCOTUS decision.
We will not stop centering the perspectives of people pushed to the margins, and we will not stop looking for ways to help every community grow with dignity. Those communities include families sending young people to college, and adult learners pursuing secondary degrees, as well as faculty and staff at institutions of higher education. This decision impacts every community, and while it is a setback, it is not the end of the road. We’ll be here, ready to support public and private entities looking for ways to engage the public in problem-solving and finding new ways to ensure everyone has the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.
