As an African daughter of Ethiopian Immigrants, my parents came to America with the hope their sacrifices and dreams for a better future would be realized on this soil. However, the overturning of affirmative action is proof that those dreams will only be harder to pursue.
Affirmative action was a policy passed in 1965 designed to address historical and ongoing discrimination in both education and employment, playing a pivotal role in promoting equality and diversity in these fields. Rooted in the history of systemic inequalities, the policy involves deliberate measures to provide opportunities and support for individuals from marginalized or underrepresented groups – ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, etc.
However, this past June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against the use of race in college admissions, overturning affirmative action in a consolidated decision. This significantly limits how colleges consider race as a factor in the admission process. The repercussions of this ruling are profound, with its impacts widening the disparities that persist in our country and deepening the gap in educational opportunities faced by people of underrepresented backgrounds, such as myself.
Many conservatives viewed this as a temporary fix to ignore the country’s racist past and work toward a “nonracist future” by ignoring issues of racism. Justice Clarence Thomas, a Black conservative who consistently works to weaken voting rights and aided in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, doubts the persistence of racism. Despite this, he himself would not have become a justice on the Supreme Court without the affirmative action program, as it benefitted him every step of the way.
Even in 2023 with that ideal, the program still has yet to achieve its “goal” of ending racism and the overturning of it only further perpetuates a system where marginalized students who often lack the privilege of well funded schools, tutors, the availability of rigorous classes, and other resources are left to contend with unequal educational foundations.
Affirmative action is not about taking opportunities from one group and giving it to another. It’s about leveling the playing field and giving equal access to educational and employment opportunities that SHOULD be the right of every American. THAT is what equity is. It acknowledges the brutal cycle of systemic barriers that have greatly disadvantaged specific groups for generations, and it attempts to rectify that imbalance.
Just a week after the ruling, it was as though affirmative action had vanished into thin air. The fight I expected, a collective struggle for a more just and equitable society, seemed almost nonexistent. In a society that “strives for justice and diversity”, the recent overturning of Affirmative Action and the silence of the majority of Americans wasn’t just a disappointment, but a betrayal of the promise of America.
