The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) is deeply disappointed in yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Although the ruling was not unexpected, the upending of decades of precedent is once again shocking. This decision is a setback in the progress that has been made to increase educational and economic opportunity for communities of color who have been historically and presently excluded from so many opportunities, most notably opportunities of educational and economic advancement.

Chief Justice Roberts describes centuries of state-sponsored oppression, exclusion, violence and discrimination as a “regrettable norm.” However, the reality is that these “regrettable norms” created and perpetuated conditions of poverty in communities of color by economically, socially, and physically disempowering Black and brown people. This was not by accident – it was by design. As the data on racial disparities demonstrate, the effects of this oppression endure to this day.

Higher wages and the accumulation of wealth are demonstrably tied to education level. Education attainment is often directly connected to a student’s socioeconomic background, community, quality of their K-12 education, and their ability to access higher education. Those factors, compounded by the negative consequences of systemic racism and implicit racial bias, exist to this day. Denying that fact is denying the consequences of our nation’s history of systemic exclusion of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other historically marginalized communities.

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision was based on the principle of “color-blindness” – an idea that is contrary to history and to reality. An adherence to the concept of color blindness – without the acknowledgement of the impact of race on a person’s life experience and access to opportunity – only makes people blind to racism and implicit racial bias. Denial of an injustice does not actually address injustice.

Despite SCOTUS’ reversal of decades of precedent, we are encouraged that the Court has still recognized the importance of considering race as a factor impacting the lived experience of an applicant. The message of “affirmative action is dead” being propagated through this ruling can and will create a chilling effect to efforts in governments, businesses and higher educational institutions that seek to redress the impacts of systemic discrimination and racism.

MLRI will work to ensure that our community partners understand the implications of this decision and how we can continue to advance diversity in all aspects of our society.

For more information on MLRI’s Racial Equity & Justice Advocacy, click here. To read the full opinion of the Court, click here.