Schumer: Affirmative action ruling a ‘giant roadblock’ in ‘march toward racial justice’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action as a “giant roadblock” in the “march toward racial justice.” 

Schumer said in a Thursday statement that students of color will receive fewer opportunities to attend the same colleges and universities than their parents and older siblings, and they will feel the effects “immediately.” 

“These negative consequences could continue for generations, as the historic harms of exclusion and discrimination in education and society are exacerbated. The Court’s misguided decision reminds us how far we still have to go to ensure that all Americans are treated equally,” he said. 

The court significantly restricted the use of race as a factor in college admissions decisions in ruling that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s (UNC) admissions programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. 

The ruling in the UNC case was 6-3, with the court’s conservatives in the majority and its liberals in the minority. The ruling in the Harvard case was 6-2; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself because she served on the university’s Board of Overseers last spring. 

More on the Supreme Court’s ruling from The Hill

• Supreme Court upends affirmative action in college admissions
• READ: Supreme Court’s affirmative action majority opinion
• Sotomayor’s biting dissent: Ruling rolls back ‘decades of precedent and momentous progress’
• Obama says affirmative action ‘allowed generations of students’ to ‘prove we belonged’
• Trump praises SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action: ‘This is a great day for America’

The court previously allowed race to be considered as a factor, among others, in college students’ admissions, but it has now majorly rolled back the extent to which it can be involved in those decisions. Chief Justice John Roberts noted in the court’s majority opinion that the ruling does not prevent universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race has affected their life. 

Schumer vowed that efforts to ensure all students have access to equal educational opportunities will continue.

“Nevertheless, we will not be daunted or deterred by this decision and we reaffirm our commitment to fighting for equal educational opportunities for all,” he said.