Johns Hopkins scholars use affirmative action ruling to push systemic racism narrative

Johns Hopkins University scholars have used the Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action as a springboard to discuss alleged institutional racism against minorities. 

On Sept. 14, JHU’s Program in Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship (RIC) held its annual fall kick-off event, “What Comes Next: Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship after Affirmative Action.” At the event, speakers discussed affirmative action as a method of redress for historical injustice, taking aim at the university itself.

During the panel, RIC Undergraduate Fellow Natalie Wang expressed the importance of “institutional memory” when pushing for social change. “It is a lot harder to make any kind of change when students on campus don’t remember what happened five years ago because they weren’t there,” she said.

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RIC Graduate Fellow Sheharyar Imran gave a presentation on the necessity of proactive and continuous movements pushing for change. “Focusing on only these exceptional moments of crisis obscures that very ongoing and structural nature of racialized discrimination that not only constitutes the social fabric of this country but also by extension defines the institutional landscape we find ourselves enmeshed in,” he said.

Both speakers also mentioned JHU’s “Initiative for Critical Diaspora Studies,” which created a new major of the same name; the new major focuses on “[exploring] migration and displacement within the broader context of white supremacy and colonialism.” 

One student heartily endorsed the new major. “Race is so important, and I literally can’t think of a discipline or major that doesn’t need a race-based education,” JHU sophomore Sandy Monter-Casio said in an interview with The Johns Hopkins News-Letter.

According to the RIC’s website, the RIC “provides a forum for students, faculty, and staff to explore how racial hierarchies interact with migration flows to shape citizenship, national identity, and practices of democratic inclusion and social exclusion.” 

In addition to putting on events throughout the semester, the program provides training to graduate students to teach the mission of faculty affiliated with the program. According to the RIC website, the training also includes pre-dissertation, dissertation, and job market workshops. 

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The program’s biggest initiative is its “Freedom Education Initiative,” which was established in 2021. The initiative consists of interviews conducted by JHU PhD students with scholars that focus on core themes and topics that are the motivation behind the program.

Johns Hopkins was one of many universities that criticized the Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling against race-based, affirmative action in college admissions. “This is particularly distressing given the long history of racial discrimination in our country and the relatively brief period of time during which we have succeeded in recruiting a significant number of outstanding underrepresented students to Johns Hopkins,” the university said in a statement.

Campus Reform reached out to Johns Hopkins University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

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