National Urban League Statement on Supreme Court Hearing of University of Michigan Affirmative Action Cases

Business Wire, April 1, 2003

Business Editors/Education Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 2003

The National Urban League strongly endorses the visionary position of hundreds of organizations from a wide spectrum of America's political, corporate and civil rights communities in support of the continued use of affirmative action to promote diversity and inclusion at the University of Michigan, its law school and other institutions of higher learning. The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in the Michigan cases today.

The Urban League movement, and the nation as a whole, bears witness to the compelling benefits of affirmative action. Admissions policies like those at the University of Michigan and its law school clearly have contributed to advancing the preparation and productivity of minorities. The proof of impact is found in the dramatically changed ethnic composition of college campuses and corporate workplaces. There's simply no denying the striking progress that minorities made over the past generation in entering the American mainstream since the advent of affirmative action.

As many amicus curae briefs filed in the Michigan cases confirm, inclusion and diversity are compelling public interests in every walk of American life. The U.S. military relies on affirmative action to ensure that their officer ranks are diverse so that their highly diverse enlisted ranks function effectively. Leading American corporations argue convincingly that utilization of affirmative action helps ensure diversity in their management and executive ranks, which is essential to enabling the companies to serve an increasingly diverse domestic and global customer base.

The National Urban League movement urges the Court to stand with those who believe fervently in opportunity and inclusion and uphold the ruling of the 1978 Bakke decision which held that it is permissible under the Constitution for colleges and universities to consider race as one among many factors, not just to combat discrimination, but as a way to promote inclusion and diversity.

The League stands firmly with the African-American community and millions of other Americans in support of affirmative action and in opposition to any measures that would dismantle the most effective tool this nation has yet created to right the horrible wrongs born of slavery and a continued legacy of inequity and inadequacy in education, jobs and access to opportunity.

Affirmative action is both a philosophy of inclusion and a set of tools for accomplishing that objective. To prohibit its use in higher education admissions would be to undermine and destabilize the fragile progress that our great and increasingly diverse nation has made over the last forty years.

The education and employment gains of the last several decades are a direct consequence of the affirmative action remedy. The future of our nation depends on a harmonious and secure populace that offers all citizens equal access to opportunity. Affirmative action is a proven and constitutionally acceptable means of realizing that noble objective.

The National Urban League participated in a pro-affirmative action demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court earlier today, along with numerous other civil rights organizations and tens of thousands of affirmative action supporters. Earlier this year, on February 18th, 2003, the League, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles and the National Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, filed an amicus brief in support of the Michigan Case. (The League's brief is available for viewing by visiting www.nul.org or by calling 212-558-5371. Mr. Price's letter to President Bush on affirmative action, issued in December 2002, is also available for viewing.)

The Urban League is the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the nonprofit, nonpartisan movement, while Urban League affiliates operate in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia.