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With a new decision from the Supreme Court, colleges nationwide can no longer consider a student’s race during the admissions process.
After decades of affirmative action, what comes next for Native students?
South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s C.J. Keene checks in.
The 6–3 ruling will have sweeping implications at campuses across the nation – from Harvard and Stanford to South Dakota’s own institutions.
Samantha Chapman is an advocacy manager with the ACLU of South Dakota.
She says they anticipated this ruling.
“It doesn’t make it any less devastating for students across America – here in South Dakota particularly our Native students. The movement against affirmative action is part of a larger effort to rewrite our nation’s history and have this small group of people dictate what this country looks like and how we talk about who we are – from this ruling here about affirmative action to erasing the existence of LGBTQ and two spirit people on campus through acknowledgement of their pronouns.”
She says this ruling could open the door for similar situations.
“I would assume that based on the same legal framework we could expect a similar result if a case came to the Supreme Court regarding corporate affirmative action practices.”
Chapman says the ACLU of South Dakota hasn’t raised the white flag yet.
“On Twitter I’ve seen some lawmakers already stating they will bring bills next legislative session to ban affirmative action outright here in our state. I just want them to know if there is any attempt to ban race-conscious academic admissions we will be there to oppose it and remind them race-conscious admission process is an extension of a universities academic freedom to assemble a student body across all races and ethnicities.”
In response to the decision, President Joe Biden has directed the Department of Education to analyze practices to create more inclusive and diverse student bodies.
Four national Native organizations, which provide scholarships, are raising concerns about the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action.
In a joint statement Thursday, the American Indian College Fund, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the Cobell Scholarship Program, and the Native Forward Scholars Fund said they’re disheartened by the ruling.
They say for decades, affirmative action has provided worthy for American Indian and Alaska Native students with the opportunity for affordable higher education.
They’re expressing to Native students not to let the decision discourage their higher education goals.
The organizations are calling on higher education institutions, policymakers, advocates, and students to ensure higher education is accessible for all, and that Native cultures and contributions are embraced.
The Blackfeet Nation celebrated the release of a herd of buffalo into the wild near Babb on June 26, 2023. (Photo: Lauren Monroe Jr. / Blackfeet Tribal Business Council)
This week, the Blackfeet Nation released roughly two dozen free-roaming wild buffalo onto tribal lands bordering Glacier National Park.
Montana Public Radio’s Aaron Bolton reports it is the first time the landscape has seen buffalo in over a century.
The bison were released on tribal lands near Chief Mountain, which borders the national park.
Blackfeet Tribal Business Council Vice Chairman Lauren Monroe Jr. says it’s an act of tribal sovereignty and rights historical wrongs.
“Saying the Blackfeet are in charge here, we’re in charge of our homelands, this is what we’re going to do, this is how we’re going to do it. And we don’t have to ask permission to be Blackfeet anymore.”
The federal government led a campaign in the 1800s to wipe buffalo from the landscape.
The intent was to gain leverage over tribal nations by pushing them into hunger.
Monroe says the tribe plans to monitor how the herd reproduces and the impact the keystone species’ return has on other wildlife.
The tribe hopes the herd will eventually grow large enough for tribal hunts but will also be an economic boon for tourists eager to catch a glimpse of buffalo not seen on these lands for 100 years.
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