In June of 2023, the Supreme Court is set to take a stand on two separate cases that will determine the legal future of the consideration of race in the college application process. Lawsuits against the University of North Carolina and Harvard University are at center stage.
The lawsuits allege that admissions policies that work to increase diversity on campuses discriminate against Asian-American students. What these lawsuits ignore is just how effective these programs are at bringing in diverse students, especially at more selective schools.
Race-neutral admissions is the new suggestion by affirmative action opponents. They believe that by excluding race from the admissions process, the playing field would be made fair. But this argument ignores too much of the Black experience in this process.
Affirmative action was designed to give our people a fighting chance at getting into schools. Our stories and life experiences can be factored in our admissions and for many, those considerations opened the gateway into higher education. Without affirmative action, our representation on college campuses may be diminished.
We already face other barriers to higher education, and now this may be yet another. It’s time to reimagine what higher education can look like when we control it completely and rethink its connection to our economic growth as a community.