To the editor:
Congratulations, straight, white people. You won big with the Supreme Court last week. I'm one of you. So why am I not celebrating? In one fell swoop, the Supreme Court of our United States struck down affirmative action for college admissions, halted the student loan relief program and made it a constitutional right for businesses to refuse to serve members of a protected class. This is living in America in 2023.
A Colorado woman argued she shouldn't have to provide her services as a web designer for any couples seeking a website for their same sex wedding. The six militant judges on the court apparently didn't pay attention to years of court decisions about public accommodations and granted her wish. But don't worry, gays. I doubt we'll soon see those "straights only" signs going up on local businesses and institutions like your local library, will we? I mean, that certainly wouldn't happen around here, would it? Would it?
This court seems to think that, if they have the six votes, they just do what they want, and so they ruled to shut the door on debt relief for students, even though the Heroes Act provided for the administration to take such action in light of national emergencies like COVID. Forty-three million Americans will be affected by this ruling, but that's no big deal to the Supreme Court Six. They don't have time to worry about silly things like paying off a student loan while they're busy being coddled by billionaires that jet them around the world on luxury vacations.
Worst of all, it's time to say goodbye to affirmative action, since the court ruled institutions of higher learning can no longer include race conscious provisions in their admissions process. The court claims the historical ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education took care of racial disparity and that means "you people" don't need no stinkin' affirmative action now. The "Super Six" on the court laughed in the face of their predecessors like the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, who fought to dismantle segregation and racial disparity. We all know what will happen now; Falling enrollment in higher education by people of color, and all the collateral damage that will be suffered by that marginalized community and society in general.
One more disturbing aspect of all this legalization of discrimination is the local silence. Where is the outrage from our local political leaders? We all need to stand up and say we're not going to allow a war against students trying to survive in tough economic times and build a life. We won't accept people of color being denied educational opportunities through programs that have shown to even the playing field in a positive way, and we must continue to fight for the LGBTQIA+ community, to have the right to participate in public life, in their full identities. These groups deserve dignity and freedom just as much as all of us straight, white people.
Marjie DeFede
Rayland