Colorblindness: The normalization of an insidious term”
“With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces “colorblindness for all” by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”
J. Jackson’ s Dissent (2023)
Justice Ketanji-Brown-Jackson’s dissent of the Supreme Court’s SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC decision challenges the malignant illusion of constitutional colorblindness that the majority opinion promulgates. The Court’s insistence that “race” not be used as a primary factor in college admissions, does not erase the systemic racism embedded and nurtured in this nation since its founding. This decision, though narrow in scope, doubles down on a narrative that rejects the persistence and impact of structural inequality. Despite the majority’s opinion, colorblindness is not a means to achieve fairness, it is a means to deny it.
Constitutional racism is not new thing. Neither are African Americans’ refusals to accept it. In fact, our institutions – churches, families, and HBCUs - are evidence of our refusal. Howard University and all HBCUs, are not merely symbols of resistance but incubators for generating and nurturing ideas, attitudes, and actions that affirm our humanity and challenge structures that seek to restrict our aspirations. How do HBCUs do this? More specifically how has Howard University done this? By operationalizing our mission in tangible, intentional, and generative ways: educating generations of physicians, teachers, lawyers, scientists, artists that serve our communities; producing graduates who lead and organize in every nook and cranny of this nation; and centering Black pride as a core attribute of every graduate. Howard has always been a bastion of diversity comprised of the students who enroll, faculty who teach, and communities it serves. Unrestricted by the physical boundaries of its Washington, DC campus, Howard’s intellectual vibrancy has fueled grassroots advocacy, empirical truths, and social movements.
The SFFA decision will likely usher in a host of challenges seeking to further dismantle constitutionally protected strategies that counter the effects of systemic racism. To be sure, the Courts’ response to those challenges will not derail Howard University’s abiding commitment to employ its resources and talents to press this nation toward a better version of itself.
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Until Next Time,
Melanie Carter
Associate Provost & Director
Center for HBCU Research, Leadership, and Policy