SCOTUS Strikes Down Affirmative Action After 40 Years

"It created a Clarence Thomas who benefited from the program and now is in a position where he's going to deny many young African-American talented individuals an opportunity."

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FILE - Members of the Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Oct. 7, 2022. Bottom row, from left, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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Colleges and universities can no longer use race as a factor in their admissions decisions. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of challenges to affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard University.

The reactions are pouring in. Here’s NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson:

“It created a Clarence Thomas who benefited from the program and now is in a position where he’s going to deny many young African-American talented individuals an opportunity.”

And while the group that sued to overturn affirmative action is praising the decision, Princeton University Professor Eddie Glaude says the decision means a step back.

“We’re gonna go back to those classes where you had 1, 2, 3. We already had a small percentage of black and brown students. That percentage will get even smaller,” Glaude said.

President Biden says he’s going to be directing the Department of Education to look into what other practices can help build more diversity on college campuses.

“While talent, creativity, and hard work are everywhere across this country, not equal opportunity, it is not everywhere across this country,” the president said.


Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.

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