Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, Race Forward has issued the following statement: 

“The Supreme Court decision on affirmative action makes clear the current U.S. Supreme Court is intent on undermining the Constitutional framework of civil rights by refusing to recognize and address the systemic nature of racism,” stated Glenn Harris, President of Race Forward. “By taking the position that only in the most extreme of circumstances can an institution directly address racial differences in a targeted fashion, the decision ultimately undermines the basic tenets of equal protection and ignores the reality that race shapes every life outcome, including access to higher education.”  

View this explainer by Colorlines and The Advancement Project which places the decision in a historical and contemporary context

Specifically, this decision reduces the question of racism to mere individual experiences, a direct attempt to subvert the historic promise of the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause transforming the court from a protector of equality to an enemy of progress. The Court exploits the profound need to address discrimination of Asian students in order to reverse decades of civil rights and further create obstacles for redressing inequalities faced by Black and Latino students.  

It should not go without notice that today’s decision leaves intact the advantages afforded to legacy candidates and children of donors. A stark system of racial inequality that advantages white applicants. “The only precedent the Supreme Court seems committed to upholding today,” noted Harris, “is its slide towards a cynical use of the law to maintain racial hierarchies.” 

This decision will be utilized by the forces of exclusion to pit communities of color against one another. Leaders of an inclusive America however, understand that at its core this ruling seeks to negate the fundamental responsibility to address racism in all its forms. We remain committed to advancing a society where all benefit from tangible racial equity rather than suffer the consequences of the legalistic contortions of a renegade Court.

We also applaud the dissenting opinions and intellectual leadership of Justice Jackson and Sotomayor that recognize our  deep and pervasive racial equity gaps across society. These dissenting opinions today must represent the court of our future with a jurisprudence with integrity that dismantles the systemic racism that affects all communities of color.