Black History Month In A Time of Strange Lawmaking

It’s Black History Month, February 1 through March 1, 2023, and I’m going to say a little about what’s on my mind without speaking for anyone else. I want to reflect on my field, the field of education, as it pertains to our recognition of this group and their amazing contributions to our nation and our school.

The 2023 national Black History Month theme, “Black Resistance,” explores how African Americans have addressed historic and ongoing disadvantage and oppression, as evidenced by recent events involving gun violence, police violence, etc. In the backdrop of this historic oppression is a Supreme Court case that is imminent and that will change access to education, hence, continuing the historic oppression rather than addressing it head on.

The Supreme Court has upheld race-conscious admissions policies for more than four decades. Lower courts have approved using race as one factor among many in admissions. The lawsuit was brought by Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA), an Arlington, Virginia, nonprofit that has mounted several legal challenges to race-conscious admissions policies and voting rights laws in recent decades. They are claiming that by using affirmative action policies, Black Americans are being unfairly favored over Asian Americans (the group behind the lawsuit).

This is where I veer, and radically, for two essential reasons. 

First, The Grauer School benefits as we create a diverse mix of students. Diversity to us has historically meant enrolling different kinds of kids, but diversity does not mean just race or ethnicity. We intentionally seek a mix, and we try to represent the diversity in Encinitas and our region. Furthermore, we know every student is unique, regardless of their racial, ethnic or family background, and we have created a culture of inclusion that is supported through connection and compassion. The point of diverse communities is belonging regardless of what group you are in.

But here is the bigger issue: Some groups have historically not had a fair shot in the United States. It is impossible to ignore that. This fact makes the lawsuit offensive and unjust.

The case against Harvard University is really against all independent schools and colleges. We expect that the court is going to rule that it is unconstitutional for schools to intentionally try to admit students from specific groups. They are expected to rule that Harvard deliberately discriminated against Asian American applicants because of their race, and that Harvard considers race in ways that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Imagine not being able to admit some underserved populations because of something called a “Civil Rights Act!” That is an irony The Grauer School must not tolerate.

Consider this - that you are a minority that was enslaved for 250 years, and after that, once supposedly free, you were held out of financial institutions, prevented from purchasing land, put into poorly funded schools, targeted by law enforcement officials, and kept out of jobs because of nothing other than your race.  And then, as we attempt as a nation to climb out of this terrible way of treating certain groups, we rule that we cannot give them a leg up in getting an education, and why?  Because the other applicants have to have “equal protection under the law.”  

It is mind-boggling to think about how a Black applicant to Harvard, or to Grauer, would feel if kept out of the amazing opportunities our schools intend to offer.

Here’s the other problem, my issue number 2: How do we determine who is equally protected? The crazy lawsuit says that people are required to get into Harvard if they have better scores, such as GPA and on the College Board SAT. This is their basis for protecting the Asian group, and this is crazy! What about the other many other criteria we need to use in attracting and retaining the most qualified students?  

Even more important (to Grauer), what about kids who might score lower on SAT tests but have demonstrably higher levels of kindness, resourcefulness, creativity, intrinsic motivation, or emotional intelligence? Do those kids get equal protection? Those attributes are the actual purpose of The Grauer School, not SAT scores or GPA. SAT and GPA are not school purposes! Diverse communities are necessary to prepare students to live and work in a world that is becoming increasingly pluralistic and global, and the act of intentionally creating an inclusive community is an act of upholding our core value of compassion.

We support Harvard University in their effort to employ a wide-ranging admissions formula that takes into consideration the factors they need to create the inclusive community they are building. Twice in the past, the Court has cited Harvard as a model for other colleges and universities. Harvard’s qualified, limited use of race is consistent with Supreme Court precedent. Likewise, I hope we admit anyone we want at Grauer in our effort to build a diverse, cool, dynamic, connected, talented and fun group of students. Black History Month is a time to celebrate the fullness of African American history and culture, in particular. I will happily take the hit for our admissions office and go to jail for them if anyone tries to tell us that we can’t give anyone we believe to be deserving a leg up.

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