Affirmative action

Foreign some breaking news this morning the Supreme Court has just issued a major ruling on affirmative action in a 6-3 decision the Justice's rule that the consideration of race and college admissions is unconstitutional we want to bring in Derek Johnson now he's the president and the CEO of the NAACP Derek thanks so much for joining us I know it's going to be a very busy day for you uh let me just ask you for your reaction on this decision it is an unfortunate day for America that this court would decide that diversity has no value uh the worst thing about affirmative action is it created Clarence Thomas he would not be serving on the Supreme Court but for affirmative action we are a nation who should celebrate diversity who should recognize the harms of the past institutions corporations and other entities were not able to uh uh apply a diverse opportunity for so many individuals affirmative actions created a pathway and this course decision is a chilling effect on the future of diverse settings for African-Americans and other individuals moving forward it is unfortunate that we are here today so we have a little bit of an example of what could happen right because we know in California and I believe also Michigan they have banned the use of affirmative action when it comes to missions and Cal in California they're still struggling to get those numbers back up and that's the reality that we're confronted with here you have many individuals who were born and grew up in ZIP codes that denied quality K2 through 12 funding and education who was somehow able to still overcome that be situated to get to institution of higher learnings and now the doors are closed that should not be the way for America are we going to be a country that Embrace diversity for a global economy looking into the future or we're going to be a country that's always looking to try to remake 1950s in the 1950s is not a workable solution for this nation and this is a supreme court that's looking to create that apartheid reality and we should not stand for it it is the responsibilities of Corporations it's the responsibilities of institutional higher learnings to figure out now that they're in the wilderness what they must do to ensure diversity because in diversity is gross if we don't have diverse settings this country cannot grow into a future that's competitive with other nations so Derek let me ask you what others uh who don't share that opinion have said which is that if we celebrate diversity in this country but uh these uh um these laws that have been put into place over the course of many many years have then prejudiced the acceptance of the emissions of other students for example Asian Americans uh or even some white Americans who say look just on the basis of my Merit alone I deserve a seat at that University but because of these laws I am now disenfranchised so thus the equal protection under the law that the 14th Amendment affords all Americans is not being applied to me I'm being disadvantaged by this how do you respond to people who say that let's be clear Merit has not been the primary fact Factor Why individuals are able to advance in the way they have done individuals are advancing because of Legacy uh emissions individuals are advancing because of wealth in the creation of wealth in the zip code that they have was born into individuals are advancing because of a level of white privilege that you I and all of us here have been denied so those arguments fall flat and a few Decades of trying to affirmatively repair the intentional harm based on race that took place for centuries is is is inadequate to address the necessity of providing opportunities so this is not a merit conversation because Clarence Thomas would be on the Supreme Court we have far more African-Americans much more qualified in their academic settings in their performance than he was he's there because of affirmative action so the Merit argument Falls flat on his face and then what about the other argument that we heard is that race can no longer be a shortcut to make assumptions about the life that someone has lived the challenges that they have faced that in fact you know we have very wealthy African-Americans and Hispanics and so on and so forth and so you cannot assume that the individual based on their race would need assistance to get into a certain School but that's our point exactly why people should not use race to as a need to get into school they should not use the white race uh category to advance themselves so let's remove that as their accelerator and open up opportunities for more individuals of diverse backgrounds that's our argument and that but we we fail to recognize for the centuries that race and gender because white males have had a lead up because of their gender because of their race and been able to get in Season they were not qualified for because there were other individuals who were more qualified and affirmative action was to remedy that it is a solution to a long-standing problem it isn't the problem yeah and Derek uh just to Echo what you are saying let me just read for our audience uh a bit of what Justice uh katanji Brown Jackson um has written uh having so detached itself from this country's actual past and present experiences the court has now been lured into interfering with the crucial work that UNC and other institutions of Higher Learning are doing to solve America's real world problems going on uh with the dissent no one benefits from ignorance although formal race legal barriers are gone race still matters to the lived experience of all Americans in innumerable ways and today's ruling makes things worse not better the best that can be said are the majority's perspective is that it precedes ostrich-like from the hope that preventing consideration of race will end racism uh absolutely through this country and why affirmative action programs are so crucial to create opportunities diversity and to allow this nation to move into a future of inclusion as opposed to an exclusionary past she personifies the the essence of of academic excellence and a x an outstanding jurist but the real question here is for the majority of the Court what type of America they're trying to create are they truly trying to create an apartheid reality in the United States we've lived that experience it is a diminishing return and there is nothing we can do to go back there so it's important for institutional for higher learnings it's important for corporations and other employers to do all what is possible to ensure diversity in their spaces in order for this nation to live up to his Creed in order for this nation to have a functioning democracy