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One Wisconsin lawmaker says it is good news that the state’s liberal-majority Supreme Court has struck down a race-based grant program in Wisconsin. But he worries more work needs to be done.
State Sen. Eric Wimberger on Thursday applauded the unanimous decision from the court that declared the Minority Undergraduate Retention Grant Program is unconstitutional.
"Giving benefits based solely on race presumes someone has individual personal characteristics simply because they belong to a race category. That is stereotyping and racism at their plainest and simplest," Wimberger said in a statement.
The program was only for African American, American Indian, Hispanic, and some Southeast Asian students.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, which sued over the program, said those requirements discriminated against Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, North African, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and white students.
The court agreed.
"Under the Grant Program, race is not but one factor in a ‘highly individualized, holistic review’; race is the only factor," the court wrote in its opinion.
Still, liberal Justice Jill Karofsky defended the idea of promoting diversity on campus.
"Clearly, many students of color in Wisconsin leave high school and enter college with distinct disadvantages," she wrote. "That disparity is about a reality where past state-sponsored racism continues to affect educational opportunities, and systemic racism continues to rob non-White people of equal educational opportunities. And as difficult and uncomfortable as that may be for some to acknowledge, it is the truth, and it cannot and should not be ignored.”
That has Wimberger worried.
"The Court is right today to call race-based government policies for what they are: odious," he said. "Unfortunately, there are still other state programs that give benefits based on race. I will continue to fight against those policies and pursue equality under the law.”
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