NAACP Supports U.S. Court of Appeals Ruling Affirming Diversity in Higher Education

WHEREAS, diversity in the classroom is a core value of the NAACP. It promotes academic excellence, and it prepares students for success in an increasingly diverse workforce and global society; and

WHEREAS, accordingly, the NAACP applauds and strongly supports the recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, holding unconstitutional Proposal 2, the anti-affirmative action initiative in the State of Michigan; and

WHEREAS, proposal 2, like its Ward Connerly-sponsored counterparts in California (Prop 209) and Nebraska, fatally undermines diversity in higher education and disadvantages students from underrepresented minorities in the admissions process; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court-in Grutter v. Bollinger- has affirmed the value of a flexible, individualized and holistic process to enroll a truly diverse student population, thereby respecting racialized experiences, and treating equally the experiences of all groups and backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, schools in the three states where initiatives like Proposal 2 have been enacted are therefore competitively disadvantaged in the character and status of the education offered.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls upon the Attorney General of Michigan to forego any further appeals in the Sixth Circuit case.