Devastating Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Down College Affirmative Action Programs

Statement from In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda

Today marks an unsurprising yet grim day for our country’s so-called commitment to equal access to education, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled to severely limit the consideration of race in college admissions decisions. This decision comes as conservative state politicians and governors across the nation work to ban books and curriculum related to African American studies, LGBTQIA+ history, and an honest recounting and discussion of our nation’s history of systemic racism and oppression.

The Supreme Court’s decision fails to address the many students of privilege admitted to universities as legacy students, or those with relationships with existing university personnel.

What is truly demeaning and offensive is the disregard of our nation’s violent and oppressive history where Black and other students of color were systematically excluded from many educational institutions, and the reality that measures to achieve diversity in college admissions are needed to acknowledge and work to redress that history.

As we state in our 2023 Black Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda, Reproductive Justice is Education Justice, and it cannot and will not be achieved until Black women, girls, gender expansive people, and all communities have access to high quality, non-discriminatory, and affirmative education. In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice is committed to achieving a world where Reproductive Justice is a reality. One where all of us have equitable access to the quality and just education we deserve.