Denise Maes: A long way from equality, the Supreme Court heavies our load

There is a picture that easily explains equality. Three individuals of different heights need to overlook a fence to see a baseball game on the other side. To assist in their view, each is given a step stool of equal height. With the stool, the tallest one can see the game perfectly. The one of middle height can only see part of the game for their view remains obstructed. The shortest one cannot see the game at all.

We have been schooled on our dark history of slavery. In 1619, we saw the first documentation of Africans that were transported in chains via ship to Virginia. Before long, we had 4 million enslaved Africans. After signing the Emancipation Proclamation, our government paid reparations – to the slave owners, $300 for each enslaved person freed. We took land from Indigenous people and paid nothing for it.

If we look at student applicants specifically, they too face barriers that slow one down. Youth of color are more likely to be involved in the criminal legal system due to disproportionate discipline in school, more likely to have parents without a secondary education, and less likely to take advantage of early childhood education programs.

Affirmative action is but a modest down payment for centuries of inequities. Although college campuses continue to struggle with diversity, without affirmative action, that struggle will prove harder. After California banned affirmative action, it saw freshmen enrollment of minority students drop considerably as did Michigan after it banned the use of race-conscious admissions.

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