{"id":58727,"date":"2023-07-03T15:09:58","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T22:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=58727"},"modified":"2023-07-03T15:09:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T22:09:58","slug":"race-is-still-relevant-advocates-slam-scotus-ruling-on-affirmative-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=58727","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Race is Still Relevant\u2019 \u2014 Advocates Slam SCOTUS Ruling on Affirmative Action"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
By<\/span>Pilar Marrero<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

Many are vowing to continue the fight to protect diversity in higher education and warn policy makers and educators not to overreach in interpreting the controversial ruling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Civil rights leaders joined together to denounce last week\u2019s Supreme Court decision ending Affirmative Action. Many are warning of the negative effects the ruling will have on students of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cRace is still relevant, racial discrimination is still relevant,\u201d said Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF).<\/p>\n

Saenz pointed to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, which states that college admission programs can consider how race has affected an applicant\u2019s character specifically, but that race cannot be a general consideration in admissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a clear indication that this is not a mandate or even an invitation to ignore race in the context of higher education,\u201d explained Saenz in an interview with Ethnic Media Services.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0June 29 decision<\/a>\u00a0overturned 45 years of precedent by ruling that Affirmative Action policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

Saenz and others warned policymakers and higher education leaders not to overreach in their interpretation of the ruling. They also urged students of color not to \u201cadjust their ambitions in any way\u201d because of this decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolicymakers cannot use this decision as some excuse to ignore racial disparity or to ignore the imperative to address it,\u201d said Saenz. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t change regulations under the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n