Arizona Politicos React To SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling

June 29, 2023 ADI Staff Reporter
supreme court
East façade of the Supreme Court Building. [Photo courtesy U.S. Supreme Court]

Arizona politicos reacted quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Harvard’s and the University of North Carolina’s admissions programs violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

“No need to worry if you’re in Arizona. Thanks to @SteveMontenegro and @WardConnerly, we got rid of state sanctioned racial discrimination about a decade ago! #AffirmativeAction #SupremeCourt #MLK #ContentOfCharacter,” tweeted political consultant Constantin Querard of Grassroots Partners referring to a bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Montenegro.

More than a decade ago, current State Representative Steve Montenegro led efforts to place onto the ballot a ban on the practice of considering race or ethnicity for admission to public colleges and universities. It also applied to state government business like hiring or contracts. Arizona voters ended up passing what became Proposition 107 with approximately 60% support.

The Arizona House Democrats released a statement condemning the ruling as “misguided.” They offered a quote from Assistant Democratic Leader Oscar De la Santos who said “Talent is equally distributed in our communities, and in our society, but opportunity is not. That is a historic fact and a generational wrong that affirmative action has sought for decades to correct in our country, with many successes -– Justice Clarence Thomas among them. Now, a right-wing ideological shift that has occurred in the Supreme Court (but not in our country) seeks to undo that progress. It is simply wrong for this Court to deliberately hamstring successful and impactful efforts by colleges and universities to create opportunities for qualified, but disadvantage, students of color, while leaving legacy and donor-influence admissions intact. The only widens the disparity. As a child of immigrants, my life has been immeasurably impacted for the better by education. We cannot let this decision be used to deny that same opportunity to the next generation. Democrats are committed as ever to ending discrimination and providing equal opportunity for all Americans, and this misguided decision only deepens are resolve.”

For his part, Representative Montenegro applauded the decision and hoped that the court opinion would remind Americans of the ideals and promise found in their founding documents. “It seems so obvious that you can’t fight or fix discrimination with more discrimination, even though that is what so many want to do. And you can’t fulfill the promise of our great nation by creating yet another generation of victims of discrimination, just because you want to even some historical score.” Montenegro told the Arizona Daily Independent. “What Arizonans said a decade ago, and what the Supreme Court confirmed today, is that our system should fulfill the vision of Martin Luther King and judge people based on the content of their character, not the color of their skin. Arizona was right in 2010 and the Supreme Court was right today.”

“I applaud the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to keep merit, character and academic achievement at the center point of college admissions. The American dream is attained by putting in the honest, hard work. No one should be able to cut ahead of the line in the name of affirmative action based on the color of their skin. This decision upholds the core Constitutional principle that no institution in America is allowed to discriminate based on race,” tweeted Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee.

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