How does affirmative action improve democracy?

Justice Above All

For over 40 years, affirmative action was one of the nation's key tools in helping create diverse working and learning environments. The practice of affirmative action in higher education admissions processes has been challenged several times over, and on June 29, 2023 the Supreme Court overturned previous rulings on the practice's legality in their decisions in SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. UNC Chapel-Hill.

This episode was recorded before a decision was issued in Harvard and UNC. Despite the decision restricting the discretion of educators and admissions officers, they are still charged with the moral imperative to promote diverse learning environments. Hosted by Dr. Kesha Moore, this episode explores how affirmative action can create a thriving multiracial, multiethnic democracy, and what we can learn from institution of higher education in states that have banned affirmative action while still prioritizing diversity.
Guests: Michaele Turnage Young, Senior Counsel (LDF), Femi Ogundele, Associate Vice Chancellor of Admissions and Enrollment (University of California Berkeley), and Muskaan Arshad, Student (Harvard College)

Hosted by Kesha Moore. Produced by Keecee DeVenny, Jackie O'Neil, and Kesha Moore.

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