‘Violence to Justice and Fairness’: Dem Lawmakers React to SCOTUS Affirmative-Action Ruling 

Democratic lawmakers expressed outrage on Thursday after the Supreme Court ruled that the race-conscious admissions policies of Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill violate the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a tweet that the Court’s ruling “narrows access to higher education & the crucial ladder of opportunity that it provides.”

“Its impact will be felt imminently, diminishing hard-fought progress for racial justice,” she said.

She added: “Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion does violence to justice and fairness in America. In contrast, Justice Jackson’s powerful dissent is inspiring to us, as we continue to fight to widen the path to success for all Americans.”

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the six-justice majority that “the Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.”

Progressive “Squad” member Representative Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) accused the Court of “upending the 14th amendment to uphold racial hierarchy.”

She went on to call the high court “corrupt” and suggest it is facing a “legitimacy crisis.”

“This decision is especially striking from a court where at least 3 justices are facing major corruption scandals, and the majority were appointed by Presidents who lost the popular vote. No wonder American people increasingly see this Court as corrupt and facing a legitimacy crisis,” she concluded, referring to ProPublica reports attempting to out alleged ethical improprieties by several conservative justices.

Other members of the “Squad” also decried the ruling.

Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) said, “Hundreds of years of slavery, decades of Jim Crow, and now the Supreme Court has decided that all of this generational violence and inequality no longer plays a part in society. This decision is sickening as it is ignorant of the reality on the ground.”

Representative Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.) offered what she called “facts, not hyperbole.”

“This extreme Supreme Court continues to rule in favor of: Forced birth, Anti-Blackness, White supremacy, Hurt & harm,” she wrote.

Many Democrats criticized legacy admissions policies, which give preference to relatives of alumni, as the “real” affirmative action.

“If SCOTUS was serious about their ludicrous ‘colorblindness’ claims, they would have abolished legacy admissions, aka affirmative action for the privileged,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said. “70% of Harvard’s legacy applicants are white. SCOTUS didn’t touch that — which would have impacted them and their patrons.”

Representative Cori Bush (D., Mo.) said, “Affirmative Action still stands today, they’re called ‘Legacy Admissions.’ SCOTUS struck down Affirmative Action for non-white applicants.”

Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus also blasted the ruling during a press call on Thursday. 

“There is a very bitter irony to the fact that for generations many of our nation’s colleges and universities — including the two that I went to — have used legacy-based admissions to admit students whose main qualification was that their parents attended those schools,” Representative Joaquin Castro (D., Texas) said on the call. “That still goes on today, and for the Supreme Court to do away with affirmative action and at the same time allow these backdoor discriminatory policies to continue is shameful.”

He suggested it’s time to “take up the issue of ending legacy-based admissions in higher education in the United States of America.”

Representative Judy Chu (D., Calif.) said she is “deeply distressed” by the decision to “gut affirmative action” and said the ruling is a “loss” for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

“Despite the extremist efforts to turn back time, resegregate our schools and pit the Asian American community against other communities by using us as a wedge, I refuse as chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus to let this ruling reverse the tremendous strides communities of color have made to increase equity and opportunity for all,” she added.

Chu also suggested that affirmative action could become a winning campaign issue for Democrats.

“I think the majority of our communities do support affirmative action, and we already see Trump taking credit for this court ruling. And I do think that this decision will galvanize voters who are concerned about the dream of a higher education for their communities,” she said. “And I just hope that it becomes abundantly and crystal clear for Americans across the country, that they can see that the Supreme Court and the extreme Republican candidates are not on their side.”

Representative Bobby Scott (D., Va.) called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to “review other facets in college admissions that research shows are racially discriminatory and have a disparate impact to determine if they, too, need to be eliminated, given today’s ruling.”

“Race-conscious admissions policies provided a counterbalance to these discriminatory factors, such as inequitable K–12 schools, racially biased admissions tests, developmental and legacy admissions, all of which disadvantaged students of color,” he said. “Now that the Supreme Court has invalidated that balance, I call on the Attorney General to start filing cases now against any current practices that violate the Equal Protection Clause in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act because they have a discriminatory impact.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) called the Court’s conservative justices “right-wing ideologues” who “gutted reproductive freedom last year.”

“The very same extremists just obliterated consideration of racial diversity in college admissions. They clearly want to turn back the clock. We will NEVER let that happen,” he wrote.

And according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the ruling “put a giant roadblock in America’s march toward racial justice.”

“The consequences will be felt immediately as students of color will face an admission cycle next year with fewer opportunities. These negative consequences could continue for generations,” he said.