CHICAGO — CTU President Stacy Davis Gates issued the following statement regarding today’s Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action programs:
“Today’s ruling opens up yet another tear in the fabric of our democracy. Affirmative action programs helped to undo decades of segregation that left Black, brown and female students as second-class citizens in their own cities.
“And these programs helped to transform colleges and universities from the lily-white institutions of the past into pathways to the middle class for historically marginalized people. Today, right-wing reactionaries on the Supreme Court are working hand in glove with billionaires that fund think tanks and elected officials that legislate policies rooted in white supremacy. These zealots are working overtime to undo the inclusion and equity that generations of civil rights activists have fought for.
“We refuse to stand idly by. Now more than ever, we must redouble our efforts to turn the tide on these attacks—by expanding democracy, civil rights and the Supreme Court itself—and that will require action organized by working people across the nation, at our jobs and in our communities.”
