Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
The Supreme Court majority doesn’t care about Black students …
Or so it seems, following its recent decisions on affirmative action. In fact, these rulings are a reactionary blow to equity and fairness, a punch to the gut of the modern American experiment.
As the Supreme Court heads into a new term, the ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina fundamentally undermines our very ethos as Americans. The choice to dismantle affirmative action in higher education admissions while simultaneously sidelining the Biden administration’s attempt at student debt relief leaves Black students as well as public and private industries across the country, particularly in cities led by Black mayors, grappling with the repercussions.
Yet, legacy admissions remain unscathed, a perplexing oversight when such practices have come under intense scrutiny for perpetuating inequality. Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) like Wesleyan University, MIT and Carnegie Mellon recognized this and terminated their legacy admissions policies. Yet, the court’s decision selectively enforces the 14th Amendment, catering to privilege and further marginalizing historically disadvantaged communities.
What’s more, military academies are exempt from these new rulings. It’s a glaring inconsistency that hints at an implicit recognition of the enduring educational inequities faced by Black students while noting the pivotal value of diversity. Adrian Perkins, former mayor of Shreveport and the first Black student body president at West Point, expressed his observation of how the U.S. military academy is instrumental in elevating low-income Black boys from the South to prominent…
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