OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — The reaction to the United States Supreme Court undoing Affirmative Action was quick from Nebraska leaders.
Senator Pete Ricketts applauded the move saying in a news release: “Today’s Supreme Court decision restored the Constitutional right to equality of opportunity. As Chief Justice Roberts has previously written: ‘the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.’ Applicants should be judged by the content of their record and the results of their grit, not the color of their skin.”
Thursday’s decision, though, will have very little effect on Nebraska students looking to pursue higher education in the state. More than a decade ago, in 2008, Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment banning racial preference in higher education and public employment.
In a statement, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln acknowledged there won’t be much change saying: “We will review the ruling. Nebraska law already prohibits preferential treatment based on race and gender in admissions decisions following a 2008 constitutional amendment approved by voters. The University of Nebraska will continue to work to recruit and enroll a strong and vibrant student body, consistent with Board of Regents policy and state and federal law.”
Even though it won’t have the same impact in Nebraska, the ruling was still disappointing for local leaders in Omaha.
“We are maybe ignoring what affirmative action is all about," said Pastor Michael Williams, the president of the Omaha NAACP. "I think from the very beginning there is this attitude that it disenfranchises Caucasian folks but the whole idea was to make up for the disenfranchisement of society for years of African Americans.”
We caught up with Williams, along with Preston Love Jr., who were on a tour through Selma, Alabama as well as several other cities and landmarks important to the civil rights movement.
For community advocates like Williams and Love, the decision is one of many disappointing rulings to come out of the Supreme Court in recent years and a sign that decades of progress in civil rights could be coming undone.
“We are stepping backwards," said Love. "We are, step by step, undoing the civil rights movements. In the voting rights and the legal rights, the one thing we used to depend on was a fair and just decision at the third branch. Very disappointed in their decision.”
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