The Supreme Court ruled against Harvard’s and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs regarding admissions today, in a 6-2 and 6-3 vote respectively, deeming race-based considerations unconstitutional.
KEVIN KUMASHIRO, kevin@
Kumashiro is the co-founder of the nationwide network, Education Deans for Justice and Equity, and the award-winning author of ten books on education.
Kumashiro told the Institute of Public Accuracy: “Today’s SCOTUS decision is not surprising, but nonetheless a travesty – especially when viewed alongside the escalating attacks on curriculum and books, DEI initiatives, funding equity, and democratic processes. This decision perpetuates the myth of colorblindness that race no longer matters and that democracy is somehow advanced when we refuse to attend to long-standing and pervasive issues of racial injustices. Furthermore, the decision furthers a narrowed vision for higher education, focusing on individual merit rather than the common good.
“The current cases diverged from the previous three SCOTUS decisions by amplifying the ‘model minority’ stereotype of Asian Americans, hindering cross-racial coalition building by presenting Asian Americans as evidence that racism no longer exists and that race-conscious policies hurts them.
“The effects nationwide on college and university enrollments are sure to be profound, as we saw following bans on affirmative action in California post-1996 and Michigan post-2006 when enrollments of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students plummeted.
“We cannot prepare students of all backgrounds to thrive in a diverse world if their educational institutions are not similarly diverse. Affirmative action in admissions was never the panacea, and universities were already exploring and implementing a range of other initiatives to serve an increasingly diverse younger generation, but retreating from race will make it even harder for universities to advance democracy and justice.”