Congressman Elijah E. Cummings Proudly Representing Maryland's 7th District

We Cannot Wait:
Support for Policies of Inclusion in America's Public Universities

January 15, 2002

Advance Text of Remarks
Capitol Hill Press Conference

Washington, D.C.

On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I am pleased to welcome you to the United States House of Representatives on Dr. King’s birthday.

To the journalists who have joined us, let me thank you personally for all that you do to speak out about the injustice that your reporting reveals. As Dr. King wrote from that Birmingham jail in 1963 –

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people . . . ."

ANNOUNCEMENT

As we are all aware, during this term, the Supreme Court will decide challenges to the inclusive admissions policies of the University of Michigan – challenges both to the University of Michigan’s School of Law (Grutter v. Bollinger, et al) and its undergraduate programs (Gratz v. Bollinger).

This afternoon, the Congressional Black Caucus announces its support for the University of Michigan in its efforts to include African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans within its highly-selective undergraduate programs and its school of law.

We also announce that Members of our Caucus will file an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court later this year that will detail the rationale for the support that we are expressing today.

I do not intend to outline all of the details of our presentation to the Supreme Court this afternoon. We will be closely consulting with Congressman Ciro Rodriquez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and other men and women of conscience before we complete that Supreme Court brief.

Today, however, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s birth, I will pose what we believe are the two crucial questions that the Supreme Court – and all Americans – must answer.

As the American people – and our Supreme Court – seek to answer these questions, we should also consider the facts that reveal the continued de facto segregation of American higher education.

SUPPORTING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

One of the arguments often asserted against voluntary efforts to reduce that de facto segregation is the assertion that "affirmative action may have been necessary 30 years ago, but the playing field is fairly level today."

However, consider the reality of exclusion that this nation must squarely face.

C According to a research study (entitled "The Affirmative Action Debate: What's Fair in Policy and Programs?") that was published in the Journal of Social Issues – despite the progress that has been made in increasing minority college enrollment, the playing field is far from level.

C African Americans attend college at half the proportion of Caucasians — and without affirmative action, the percentage of African American students on many campuses would drop below 2%.

C Less than 10 percent of Hispanic Americans go on to higher education – and only 16 percent of Hispanic Americans ages 25-29 have bachelor’s degrees.

Partially as the result of the University of Michigan Law School’s voluntary efforts toward greater inclusion,15 percent of the first year Michigan law students belong to racial or ethnic minorities. The University has concluded, however, that – without the existing diversity considerations – the percentage of new minority students could plunge to 4% or less.

Consider also the report (entitled, "The Funding Gap") that recently was released by the Education Trust.

C That report found that the nation's poorest schools – the schools that African Americans and Hispanic Americans disproportionally attend – receive the least amount of state and local funding.

C This Congress and the President acknowledged that reality when we enacted the "No Child Left Behind" legislation – a federal initiative, I might add, that we have yet to fully fund.

We have yet to create a "level playing field" in preparatory education.

Now, the opponents of the University of Michigan’s admission policies want to keep African Americans, Hispanic Americans and other Americans of color off the college playing fields (and the law school playing fields) altogether.

In the legal profession, business and the other professions, Americans of color and women already face a "glass ceiling" in our struggles to be fully included in this society.

Now, the opponents of programs like the University of Michigan’s want to reestablish a glass floor – and shatter that glass floor from beneath our feet.

Let us all clearly understand what is being challenged in these Michigan cases.

As we understand the issues to be considered by the Supreme Court, the question will not be whether public universities like the University of Michigan must do what is right to include all of our people in the empowering education this great university provides. The University of Michigan is trying to be inclusive to citizens who had been excluded in the past – and citizens who continue to be under-represented today.

The issue addressed by our highest court is whether the state MAY do what is right.

And the opponents are arguing that the University of Michigan MAY NOT.

MESSAGE TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

Before I close and ask for your questions, let me speak to reports in your news services that suggest that the Bush Administration intends to add its voice to the opponents of the University of Michigan’s policies of inclusion.

Those who oppose good-faith, fair and narrowly-tailored efforts to include all Americans in these engines of empowerment and integration often say that they are merely following Dr. King’s "dream" of a "color-blind" society.

We in the Congressional Black Caucus vigorously disagree with that interpretation. We share Dr. Michael Eric Dyson’s viewpoint in his book, I May Not Get There With You.

For Dr. King, the imperatives of greater racial justice could never be overshadowed by references to an abstract, "color-blind" equality.

We believe that this nation, to be true to Dr. King’s legacy, must never forget that the defining and unwavering focal point of Dr. King’s life was his unrelenting struggle for justice.

We agree with the President that America needs national unity today as much as we have ever needed that foundation of peace in our history.

But we must also remind the President what Dr. King said to America – again and again:

"Peace is more than the absence of conflict. Peace is the presence of justice."

So, today, we pose the same two questions to President Bush that we have asked all other Americans to consider:

Do you, Mr. President, truly believe that the integration of our public universities that is so essential to racial and ethnic reconciliation in America is no longer a "compelling state interest" for the people of the United States?

Mr. President, do you actually think that we can devise methods to achieve that fair and inclusive representation of all Americans that are even more "narrowly tailored" than the modest commitments of the University of Michigan?

Integration and fair inclusion NOW do constitute a compelling state interest, Mr. President. They are in the interest of all Americans – not simply the interests of those of us who are Americans of color.

How can we deny our great public universities the modest means that remain to achieve this great and compelling national interest?

We declare to the President – firmly and without hesitation – that he risks falling into an amoral position – one filled with nothing but bare hypocrisy.

There is a fundamental contradiction when our principled words oppose the de facto segregation that continues to plague America while our actions seek to deny this nation’s great public universities the policies and other tools that are necessary and appropriate to vanquish this evil.

Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President. That is our message to you today.

CLOSING

Ladies and gentlemen, I will close on a personal note – and one final thought.

I received my own legal education at a public university – the same University of Maryland School of Law that once denied admission to Thurgood Marshall because of his race.

At Howard University, Thurgood Marshall did achieve his dream of becoming a lawyer. During his distinguished career, he brought the legal case that integrated the University of Maryland School of Law.

And, as a direct result of that law suit, I am able to stand before you today as an elected representative of all of the people of my community – people of every race that makes up our diverse American society.

The final thought I wish to share with the American people today is this.

On behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus and all of our colleagues of like mind, I call out to America. The dream of every American to provide a college education for their children is our dream as well.

If Dr. King could be with us today, I am firmly convinced that he would raise his voice and challenge us with these words:

Our children deserve to go to college – to become lawyers and doctors and to contribute their talents and energy to the nation that we all love.

America – our children need that opportunity NOW.

AMERICA – OUR CHILDREN CAN’T WAIT.