civilrights.org Open in urlscan Pro
2606:4700:20::681a:5f3  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

GET https://civilrights.org/

<form data-searchform="" role="search" method="get" id="searchform" action="https://civilrights.org/">
  <input type="text" name="s" class="focus-input" required="" placeholder="Search..." autocomplete="off" autocorrect="off" autocapitalize="off" spellcheck="false" title="Enter a search value" aria-label="search..." data-uw-rm-form="fx">
  <label class="arrow">
    <input type="submit" class="submit-search" data-uw-rm-form="submit" aria-label="search" data-uw-rm-empty-ctrl="">
    <svg version="1.1" id="Capa_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 354.2 356.5" xml:space="preserve" role="img" aria-labelledby="right-arrow-title right-arrow-desc">
      <title id="right-arrow-title">Right Arrow</title>
      <desc id="right-arrow-desc">An arrow pointing to the right</desc>
      <path class="st0"
        d="M348.4,162.5c-0.4-0.4-1-0.6-1.5-1L191.7,7.2c-8.7-8.6-22.7-8.6-31.3,0c-8.7,8.6-8.7,22.6,0,31.1 l118.5,117.7H22.5c-12.1,0-22.5,9.4-22.9,21.4c-0.4,12.6,9.7,23,22.3,23h256.9L160.4,318.2c-8.7,8.6-8.7,22.6,0,31.1 c8.7,8.6,22.7,8.6,31.3,0L347,195c0.4-0.4,1-0.5,1.4-0.9c0.7-0.7,0.7-1.6,1.3-2.4c1.9-2.3,3.2-4.9,4-7.6c0.3-1.1,0.5-2,0.6-3.1 C355.3,174.4,353.6,167.5,348.4,162.5z">
      </path>
    </svg>
  </label>
</form>

Text Content

Skip to main contentEnable accessibility for visually impairedOpen the
accessibility menu Open the Accessible Navigation Menu







Our Work. Our Impact. Join the fight



MOBILE MENU OVERLAY

 * Home
 * Our Work
 * About
 * Events
 * Press & Media
 * Podcast
 * Library
 * Contact Us

 * Switch to: Education Fund
 * Careers
 * Shop
 * Donate

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Right Arrow An arrow pointing to the right
 * Switch to: Education Fund
 * Careers
 * Shop
 * Donate

 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

 * About Us
   * History
   * The Coalition
   * Task Forces
   * Board of Directors
   * Staff
   * Careers
   * 70th Anniversary
   * Ways to Give
 * Our Work
   * Democracy
     * Census and Data Equity
     * Courts
     * Voting Rights
   * Justice
     * Immigrant Rights
     * Justice Reform
     * Policing
   * Inclusion & Opportunity
     * Economic Justice
     * Education Equity
     * Fighting Hate & Bias
     * Media & Tech
 * Events
 * Take Action
 * Press & Media
   * Advocacy Letters
   * Amicus Briefs
   * Reports
   * Library
 * Podcast
 * Blog


CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS CONDEMN SCOTUS DECISION TO WEAKEN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN
HIGHER EDUCATION, DEMAND ACTION FROM ALL SECTORS TO ENSURE ALL STUDENTS CAN
THRIVE - THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS


CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS CONDEMN SCOTUS DECISION TO WEAKEN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN
HIGHER EDUCATION, DEMAND ACTION FROM ALL SECTORS TO ENSURE ALL STUDENTS CAN
THRIVE

Education News, Equal Opportunity News 06.29,23

Share



 * 
 * 
 * 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: Mattie Goldman,
goldman@civilrights.org
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: Jacqueline Olson,
lawyerscommittee@berlinrosen.com
Legal Defense Fund (LDF): Troi Barnes, tbarnes@a-g.com
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC: Michelle Boykins,
mboykins@advancingjustice-aajc.org
LatinoJustice PRLDEF: Carolina Gonzalez, media@latinojustice.org

WASHINGTON – The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Asian
Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and LatinoJustice held a joint press
briefing to condemn the Supreme Court majority’s bigoted agenda and decision to
betray our shared values of fairness and equal opportunity. The decisions,
Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions
(SFFA) v. University of North Carolina, rejected nearly 50 years of precedent.
Civil rights leaders spoke on the unacceptable decision to roll back decades of
progress on civil rights and racial justice and detailed the united commitment
across race and ethnicity to build a multiracial democracy where all students
have an unprejudiced opportunity to pursue higher education.

Video of the event is available here.

Maya Wiley, president and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights, said:

“We stand together as a civil rights community. We stand together as community
leaders representing the community who has fought for the recognition that
today’s America has still not lived up to the ideals we deeply share as
Americans. We are in a country today where we are still struggling to have a
fair right to vote. When we talk about educational opportunity, we’re talking
about the need to create more opportunities for every single American without
regard to where they live, how many resources they have or the color of their
skin, and the longstanding history of throwing up barriers in the face of too
many of our communities because of how we look, our languages or nation of
origin. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is right in her dissent — we want a
country where what we look like does not impede our opportunity. We do not yet
live in it. That is why we will continue to fight together and unified, and not
let those who try to pit our communities against each other to succeed.”

Damon Hewitt, president and executive director, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law, said:

“Through a tortured interpretation of the law, history, and current-day reality,
today’s decision threatens to make higher education less accessible, less
equitable, and less attainable for students of color. But this Court cannot and
will not have the last word. We have to be clear: Affirmative action is a tool,
but the prize is racial equity, racial justice, and opportunity for all —
especially those who have been historically marginalized. We will continue to
support and encourage students to proudly express themselves and their identity,
including race and their experiences with racism. We urge every institution of
higher education to double down on efforts to promote opportunity, including
asking student applicants to continue talking about their identity and their
experiences with race and racism, which even this Court seems to understand
still matters and has said remains permissible under the law. We expect the
business community to follow suit especially because nothing in today’s decision
changes their legal obligations. Every sector must be united.”

Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel, The Legal Defense Fund (LDF),
said:

“We roundly condemn and regard with alarm the Supreme Court’s decision to strike
down Harvard and UNC’s affirmative action programs, ignoring its own
long-standing precedent, and distorting the legacy of the seminal decision in
Brown v. Board of Education — which held that society must not turn a blind eye
to racial inequality and can take necessary measures to address it. We know that
race still unquestionably matters in our society — particularly for Black people
and others whose race has shaped their lived experiences in a country rooted in
a history and current reality of racial injustice. Despite the Supreme Court’s
opinion today, colleges and universities still have a moral imperative and the
legal ability to ensure that their doors are open equally to all students,
including Black, Latinx, Native American, Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Asian
American applicants. Even under the terms of this unfortunate decision, all
students continue to have the freedom and opportunity to have their full
identities, including the impact of race on their lived experiences, considered
when seeking admissions to institutions of higher education.”

Marita Etcubañez, vice president of strategic initiatives, Asian Americans
Advancing Justice – AAJC, said:

“Today marks a new beginning, not an end to our fight for racial equity in
higher education. We are outraged that the Supreme Court has chosen to support
racial inequity that harms Asian Americans and all people of color. But we are
more committed than ever to ensuring equal opportunity for all children in this
country. I have a specific message for those Asian Americans who joined SFFA in
this court case who believed you were being discriminated against. I am now
calling you to join our movement to ensure that no student in a community of
color is discriminated against or marginalized because of this ruling. You have
an obligation to help create a new and better system than the one you helped to
dismantle. This includes ensuring that all students have the same opportunities
for higher education, notwithstanding barriers erected by systemic racism. To
the Black, Latino, Native American or Asian Americans who have encountered
systemic barriers to educational opportunities, we will not let this court
decision keep us from pushing colleges and universities, Congress, and others to
keep today’s ruling from undermining the progress made toward educating future
multiracial, talented leaders who deserve every opportunity to reach their
highest potential on campuses that reflect the diversity of America.”

Lourdes Rosado, president and general counsel, LatinoJustice, said:

“In saying that their decision on race-conscious admissions upholds
Constitutional equal protections for students, the majority of the Supreme Court
has taken a disingenuous and mistaken stance on how our society will move to
eliminate racial discrimination in schools and elsewhere. As Justice Sotomayor
so eloquently stated in her dissent, the Court’s holding ‘subverts’ the
Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection and will only further entrench
racial inequality in education, the bedrock of our democracy. Our Constitution
is not color-blind, but the Court’s decision mistakes consideration of our
country’s racial history and how it has set in place intractable structures of
inequality with unfair treatment. Rejecting decades of precedent that have made
meaningful and measurable improvements in opening the gateway of opportunity to
more young people, today’s decision could have a profound effect on the futures
available to Latinos and other students of color. We will not back away from our
youth and from our commitment to brace open the doors of opportunity for all
students who deserve a fair shot at higher education. This has been a core part
of our mission for five decades and will not end today.”

David Hinojosa, director, Educational Opportunities Project, Lawyers’ Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law, said: 

“Today’s decision is a travesty of justice. We know that in law there is both
art and science to the law. This Court’s decision puts a lot more art into the
law by ignoring well-established precedent of more than 40 years. But as bad as
the decision is, Chief Justice Roberts said himself, ‘all parties agree nothing
in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering
an applicant’s decision of how race affected their life.’ So there are paths
forward to ensure racial equity in higher education. And we will pursue every
avenue to hold universities accountable under federal civil rights laws, to
reinstate a fair admissions process, where students’ identities are celebrated,
not shunned.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by
its diverse membership of more than 250 national organizations to promote and
protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership
Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information
on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit
www.civilrights.org.

 The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to
mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights
Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial
justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and
other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the
promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit
https://lawyerscommittee.org.

 Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil
rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a
multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted
campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights
narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund
or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although
LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal
rights.

 Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC has a mission to advance the civil and
human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable
society for all. Visit our website at advancingjustice-aajc.org.

LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and
challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible
justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through
advocacy and education. For 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an
advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about
LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org 

 ###

 

 * 
 * 
 * 

Back to Press & Media


THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE CONDEMNS SCOTUS DECISION TO WEAKEN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND REJECT DECADES OF PRECEDENT




JOIN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE, INCLUSION, AND FAIRNESS FOR ALL.


 * Library
   * Advocacy Letters
   * Comments
   * Factsheets
   * Reports
   * Testimony
 * Press & Media
   * Action Alerts
   * Events
   * Press Releases
   * News
 * About
   * The Coalition
   * Task Forces
   * Board of Directors
   * Staff
   * Careers
   * Accessibility
 * Take Action
   * Get Involved
   * Ways to Give

Donate
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

Phone: (202) 466-3311 1620 L Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036
 * Privacy Policy
 * Terms & Conditions
 * Disclaimer
 * Contact Us

CivilRights.org is the joint website of The Leadership Conference on Civil and
Human Rights & The Leadership Conference Education Fund.

©2023 The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights/The Leadership
Conference Education Fund. All rights reserved.


Splash Statement

Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility