RICHMOND, VA – Today, the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, effectively striking down affirmative action. No one wonders why the wealthiest and the most well-resourced among us are in their roles. As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in the dissenting opinion, “deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.” The unfortunate reality is that Black and brown students in this country are often questioned on whether they belong in the best schools or in the best jobs.
We will not be able to truly measure the potential harms of this decision until the data comes in, but what we know is that it is up to all of us to make sure that every American has the resources and the equity needed to succeed in Virginia and in this country. This requires that we have effective diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in our schools and in our state.
“Today, I am thinking about my daughter who will be starting her own college application journey in just a few years,” said House Democratic Leader Don Scott. “If the people out here celebrating this decision were serious about creating an equitable world, they’d work to take down the racist systems that caused the need for affirmative action in the first place. Just as the Supreme Court offered their judgment, history will judge us for how we support our children’s future.”
House Democratic Caucus Chair Charniele Herring said, “We know that systematic exclusion has been a reality for some of our institutions in Virginia. We are going to keep working to make sure that Virginia’s children have fair and equitable opportunities for an education and to accomplish their dreams.”
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