Affirmative action, student loan advocates fear racial equity losses

Annie Ma and Aaron MorrisonMakia Green stands outside her Washington home on June 12, 2023. As a Black student who was raised by a single mother, Green believes she benefited from a program that gave preference to students of color from economically disadvantaged backgrounds when she was admitted over a decade ago to the University of Rochester.

“I feel like working people have been through enough — I have been through enough,” said Green, a community organizer. “From a pandemic, an uprising, a recession, the cost of living price going up. I deserved some relief.”The rulings could also have political consequences among a generation of young voters of color who took Biden at his word when he promised to cancel debt, said Wisdom Cole, director of NAACP’s youth and college program.

In the affirmative action cases, the court was considering the use of race-conscious admissions policies that many selective colleges have used for decades to help build diversity on their campuses. The cases were brought by a conservative activist who argues the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions.

“These are policy tools that have an explicit aim around reducing the power of white supremacy,” Baker said. The two court challenges, she said, can be seen “as linked backlash to two attempts towards racial justice.” “This is white supremacy at work,” Green said. “This is a long tactic of conservative, white supremacist-leaning groups to use education and limit Black people’s access to education, as a way to further control and oppress us.”

“In a society still scarred by the wounds of racial disparities, the Supreme Court has displayed a willful ignorance of our reality,” he said.Tarina Ahuja, a rising senior at Harvard College, said being part of a diverse student body has been a crucial part of her undergraduate experience.

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Black student groups push back after high court ends affirmative actionBlack students predicted minority enrollment at major universities will plummet in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision Thursday striking down affirmative action admissions policies.
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »

U.S. Supreme Court strikes down university race-conscious admissions policiesThe U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down race-conscious student admissions programs currently used at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina in a sharp setback to affirmative action policies often used increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented minority groups on campuses. The justices ruled in favor of a group called Students for Fair Admissions, founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, in its appeal of lower court rulings upholding programs used at the two prestigious schools to foster a diverse student population. The affirmative action cases represented the latest major rulings powered by the Supreme Court's conservative majority.
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »