Statement from Congressman Castro on the Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling
SAN ANTONIO – Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement after the Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent to severely restrict how colleges and universities can consider race in college admissions:
“Decades after Brown v. Board of Education and subsequent cases ended legal segregation, the opportunities that make students most competitive for college admissions are still inequitably distributed across racial lines. Today’s Supreme Court decision undermines years of conscientious work by colleges and universities to bring brilliant Black, Latino, AAPI, and Native students into the halls of institutions that were inaccessible to their grandparents. Unlike legacy admissions programs, which broadly give wealthy white students an advantage over their peers, affirmative action is designed to reward merit that might otherwise be overlooked. With today’s decision, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has sided with right-wing activists who want to hoard the American Dream and push upward mobility out of reach for everyone else.”
In August 2022, Congressman Castro and 64 other members of Congress joined an amicus brief in support of affirmative action policies. To read the full brief, click here.