By Achoti Tamar May 5, 2024
As of April 2024, there are more than 30 Anti-Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Bills proposed, awaiting governors' signatures, or passed across America. The rise and uptick of drafting such legislation is due largely to The Supreme Court of The United States (SCOTUS) recent decision in the Affirmative Action case, STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC. v. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, in which the SCOTUS ruling made it unlawful for universities and colleges to consider a college applicant’s race in college/university admission decisions designed to achieve the objective of a more diverse student body. Since then, several State Legislatures have seized the ruling as an opportunity to introduce Anti-DEI Bills that signal a clear attempt to erase gains made by “Black” Americans since the Ratification of the 14th Amendment.
To properly understand the dramatic effect of the SCOTUS’ ruling, and how these Legislative bodies are rebelling against the 14th Amendment, one must remember why the 14th Amendment was added to the Constitution and why programs such as Affirmative Action were necessary.
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868 due to the racist and prejudice laws of the “Black Codes”, enacted in the states of the former Confederacy after the American Civil War. The Black Code Laws were intended to assure the continuance of white supremacy. Enacted in 1865 and 1866, the laws were designed to replace the social controls of slavery that had been removed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The 14th Amendment Section 1 of The Unted States Constitution states,
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” History has documented that the 14th Amendment did not eradicate racist laws or sentiment of the “White” community in America. In fact, lynchings, segregation, and racial injustice persisted well into the 1950’s and 60’s.
Affirmative Action
The federal government instituted affirmative action policies under the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and an executive order in 1965. The affirmative action policies provided limited preferences to minorities and women in areas such as job hiring, admission to higher education institutions, government contracts, and other social benefits. The typical criteria for affirmative action include race, disability, gender, ethnic origin, and age.
However, in June 2023 the SCOTUS ruled that the affirmative action program was unconstitutional if the policies were based on race. Colleges and Universities used DEI programs to get around the “affirmative action” debate and still achieve their mission to admit a diverse student body.
Now, half of State Legislatures are proposing to change the very essence of the intent of the 14th Amendment, Affirmative Action, and DEI Programs. The SCOTUS decision allowed “White” students to use the very same argument “Black” Americans used to gain the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
In 2022, the SCOTUS heard the affirmative action case: Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President, and Fellows of Havard College. The Court ruled (6–3) that the admissions programs of Harvard violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Specifically, the Court held that the program failed to observe a set of restrictions on the permissible consideration of race, despite “race” being the very essence and intent behind the passage of the 14th Amendment.
Rebelling the 14th Amendment
State Legislatures agree with SCOTUS and are now rewriting the Civil Rights Act that was justified as Law by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. They are enacting Anit-DEI Laws that make it illegal for colleges and universities to consider race as a factor when considering admission. This reversal of Law will have a devastating effect on the “Black Community,” placing them yet again in a disparate position, which goes against the intention of the 14th Amendment.
“Blacks” will no longer be considered as an exclusive group requiring special treatment, resulting in unemployability. Many employers in corporate America are now considering eliminating their DEI Programs as well resulting in thousands of jobs lost, when Congress fails to appropriate funds for DEI Programs that will be outlawed, if Congress continue to pass, and Governors continue to sign Anti-DEI Bills into Law.
History in Reverse
The SCOTUS decision on Affirmative Action and the Congressional reaction to it, is characteristic of the era after the Civil War, when “White” southerners would not accept recently freed slaves as equal and did not want to be entangled with former slaves at no time not even at federally funded colleges and universities. With the passage of the Anti-DEI Laws in the States, History in America is repeating itself, and reverting to the JIM CROW Era, when white supremacy reigned supreme and was the Law of the Land.
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