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A message from League of United Latin American Citizens



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View as web page:

[link removed]



Photo Credit: J.Scott Applewhite via AP

July 6, 2023
Contact: David Cruz - (818) 689-9991 Mobile
[email protected]

(The following is an updated version of a LULAC statement issued July 3, 2023.
LULAC thanks Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Co-Chair of the LULAC Higher Education
Taskforce, for further clarifying the implications of the Supreme Court's
decision.)



LULAC ANALYSIS UPDATE: SUPREME COURT DECISION ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS A HISTORIC
SETBACK TO CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS
=================================================================================


LULAC ANALYSIS UPDATE: SUPREME COURT DECISION ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS A HISTORIC
SETBACK TO CIVIL RIGHTS PROGRESS

Washington, DC – In a closely watched decision last Thursday, the Supreme Court
struck down affirmative action programs, setting into motion a dangerous and
discriminatory precedent that will have far-reaching consequences. LULAC
expresses deep concern with the Court’s devastating ruling that undermines the
constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.

"The Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action is a historic civil rights
setback," stated LULAC President Domingo Garcia. "This decision will make it
significantly more difficult for minorities, particularly low-income,
first-generation Latino and DREAMER students, to enter higher education
institutions. This injury is compounded in states like Florida and Texas that
have also dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and initiatives.”

Garcia continues, "We must take action and ensure that access to higher education
is not just for the privileged few. As a civil rights community, we must pressure
our higher education institutions to prioritize outreach, recruitment, and
enrollment efforts, increase the diversity of their faculty, and continue with
test-optional admissions. Race-neutral policy like Texas’ Top Ten Percent Plan
must further be defended and considered in other states.”

The impact of this decision cannot be overstated. The ruling strips away a vital
tool universities and higher education institutions have used since 1978 to
promote diversity and equal opportunities. By recognizing that race plays a role
in a student's ability to compete on the same level as their white colleagues,
affirmative action aimed to address the subliminal or direct effects of
segregation in life circumstances and education.

"Institutionalizing the rule of colorblindness and race neutrality in a
segregated society is hypocritical, and doubly so considering the court's
decision to exempt the U.S. military in this regard," President Garcia
emphasized. "Racial inequality is a deeply entrenched reality throughout the
United States. This ruling is yet another attack on minorities by excluding and
re-segregating them, while consolidating power and privilege in the hands of a
white population whose numbers are declining."

LULAC's position is that while the specific challenges to using race in
admissions were brought against Harvard University and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, the repercussions of this decision are far-reaching and
powerfully symbolic by devaluing diversity at a time when we are poised as a
nation to be a multiracial, multiethnic democracy. Further, LULAC warns that
removing race as a factor for consideration in college admissions will incur
immediate individual and societal harm, thwarting the modicum of progress we have
achieved in representing Hispanic and Black students in our nation's best
universities.

# # #

About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and
oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans
and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000
councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and
advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of
today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org [ [link removed] ] .















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