Barack & Michelle Obama React To Supreme Court Decision To Overturn Affirmative Action In College Admissions: ‘My Heart Breaks For Any Young Person Out There Who’s Wondering What Their Future Holds’

Barack & Michelle Obama React To Supreme Court Decision To Overturn Affirmative Action In College Admissions: ‘My Heart Breaks For Any Young Person Out There Who’s Wondering What Their Future Holds’

The U.S. Supreme Court has set some new rules for college campuses that have exercised affirmative action in their admissions.

On Thursday (Jun. 29), officials ordered that universities will no longer be able to take race into consideration in their student-acceptance process.

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a majority opinion,

“A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination.”

He added:

“Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual–not on the basis of race.”

Chief Justice John Roberts then went on to (seemingly) address the “wrongness” in affirmative action programs. The initiative includes a collection of policies that were put in place to fairly aid underrepresented groups in employment and education.

He wrote,

“Many universities have for too long done just the opposite. And in doing so, they have concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”

Chief Justice John Roberts

Former First Lady Michelle Obama responded to the mandate in a statement issued on her Instagram page, letting the public in on her own experience striving for educational success as a Black woman.

She expressed,

“Back in college, I was one of the few Black students on my campus, and I was proud of getting into such a respected school. I knew I’d worked hard for it. But, still, I sometimes wondered if people thought I got there because of affirmative action. It was a shadow that students like me couldn’t shake, whether those doubts came from the outside or inside our minds. But the fact is this: I belonged.”

Michelle Obama later detailed in the text:

“Semester after semester, decade after decade, for more than half a century, countless students like me showed they belonged, too. It wasn’t just the kids of color who benefitted, either. Every student who heard perspective they might not have encountered, who had an assumption challenged, who had their minds and their hearts opened gained a lot as well.”

Michelle Obama

She concluded by mentioning the double standard between privileged students who get into universities based on money and power versus those who take advantage of affirmative action practices.

“So often, we just accept that money, power, and privilege are perfectly justifiable forms of affirmative action, while kids growing up like I did are expected to compete when the ground is anything but level. So today, my heart breaks for any young person out there who’s wondering what their future holds–and what kinds of chances will be open to them.”

Following Michelle Obama’s remarks, her husband, ex-president Barack Obama took to his Twitter to address the matter, backing Michelle’s sentiments on the situation in a repost.

He tweeted,

“Affirmative action was never a complete answer in the drive towards a more just society. But for generations of students who had been systematically excluded from most of America’s key institutions—it gave us the chance to show we more than deserved a seat at the table.”

Barack Obama

Barack Obama closed with,

“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, it’s time to redouble our efforts.”

The controversy comes after the court maintained that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s efforts at diversity violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. As you may know, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson served on Harvard’s Board of Overseers but recused herself.

Reportedly, Students for Fair Admissions sued Harvard and UNC for their race-conscious strategies, accusing the facilities of blatant “discrimination” toward Asian American applicants. The body’s lawsuit reigned favorably in the court, prompting alterations to the previous protocols.

Chief Justice John Roberts continued in his written statement,

“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.”

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

[VIA]