Let's Look at the facts (not feelings) regarding affirmative action...

Today the Supreme Court announced that it was banning affirmative action... Before I even begin to try to write down my thoughts let's look at the facts.

And ironically, I just posted about Black students being enrolled at HBCUs earlier this week, so feel free to check out those numbers here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/nataliegullatt_historically-black-colleges-and-universities-activity-7079098404810739712-8X_5

Affirmative action as defined in 2022 by U.S. News and World Report is "the practice of considering student background characteristics such as race as a factor in deciding whether to admit an applicant." (source: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/applying/articles/how-does-affirmative-action-affect-college-admissions )

Now at the surface that seems insane BUT why was affirmative action put into place to begin with? Well, according to an Harvard University article in 2018, "affirmative action was developed in the 1960s to address racial inequality and racial exclusion in American society. Colleges and universities wanted to be seen as forward-thinking on issues of race." (source: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/07/case-affirmative-action )

So one of the United States top universities acknowledged that racial inequality AND racial exclusion existed in our country. But you may think that was the 1960s so that long over. I say not so fast. Let's look at the University of California (UC) system, which witnessed a surge in black student admissions after the implementation of affirmative action policies. In the late 1990s, California passed Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action in public institutions. This led to a decline in black student enrollment across UC campuses. However, in 2020, California voters passed Proposition 16, effectively overturning Proposition 209 and allowing affirmative action to be reinstated. (source: https://edsource.org/2020/dropping-affirmative-action-had-huge-impact-on-californias-public-universities/642437#:~:text=Prop.%2016%20would%20remove%20the,approaches%20to%20recruitment%20and%20admissions ) Also, in that same article above, Harvard University also mentioned "...Decades of research in higher education show that classmates of the direct beneficiaries also benefit. These students have more positive racial attitudes toward racial minorities, they report greater cognitive capacities, they even seem to participate more civically when they leave college."

Now you may be thinking if affirmative action is so good, why was it overturned and haven't we made progress in a country to NOT have to consider race? Well, let's look at the numbers to answer these questions.

First, according to Saundra Latham, Editor at LinkedIn News , "The Supreme Court has ruled against the use of race as a factor in higher education admissions. The 6-3 decision will force colleges to scrap affirmative action policies designed to increase minority representation on campus." (source: https://www.dhirubhai.net/news/story/scotus-bars-affirmative-action-5343137/ ) So the answer is the 6 conservative justices voted against the 3 liberal judges to get rid of affirmative action. Now why did they vote that way even though this article just showed with facts only that affirmative action increases minority (specially African American) enrollment in higher education institutions? That I will have to keep researching on and get back to you with the facts.

Second, let's look at what happens whens affirmative action is NOT in place and no worries I won't use the same UC example again. A study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2022 and updated in March 2023 analyzed the effects of affirmative action bans across different states in the United States. The study found that bans on affirmative action led to a decline in black student enrollment in selective colleges and universities. Conversely, states that continued to implement affirmative action saw an increase in black student admissions (source: https://www.nber.org/papers/w27988 ).

Now that all this is said, how do I feel about The Supreme Court banning affirmative action? Well, I feel like the facts are clear. Without affirmative action, admissions and enrollment of minorities (specially African Americans) in certain higher education students will go down. There will be an opportunity gap for people that look like me. My nieces and nephew, my future children, my friends children and more will be once again be in a place of a disadvantage. Just on these facts alone, I not only am upset BUT I know the fight for equality and justice is even harder as our country are taking steps back instead of forward towards being the land in which we are all free and all men are equal.