Understanding Structural Racism:
How Students for Fair Admissions Undercuts Efforts to Achieve Racial Health Equity and Recommendations for Moving Forward

Abstract: In Students for Fair Admissions (“SFFA”) the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious affirmative action admissions programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. In doing so, the Court radically departed from, and implicitly overruled, prior precedent that allowed such admissions programs. This presentation assesses how SFFA reinforces structural racism, provides examples of how it will worsen health inequities experienced by communities of color, and demonstrates why SFFA should not be dismissed as a case with limited impact on students seeking admissions to elite colleges. Instead, SFFA signals the urgency of developing viable race-neutral criteria for college admissions. The presentation also discusses the implications of SFFA for other programs that utilize race-conscious methods, including in the field of public health. It will conclude with recommendations for moving forward in a legal landscape that is increasingly hostile to the express use of race with a proposal for how to develop race-neutral criteria that promotes racial equity.

Presenter Byline: April Shaw, Ph.D., J.D., Deputy Director, Health Equity, Network for Public Health Law.

April Shaw, Ph.D., J.D., is the Deputy Director of the Network’s for Public Health Law’s Health Equity Team. She has expertise in breaking down the policy impacts of laws and illuminating how theory can inform practice. April also has expertise in racial health equity and is especially interested in thinking through how multiple inequities intersect to create systemic disparities. April earned her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder, specializing in social and political philosophy with a focus on gender and racial justice. She received her J.D. with distinction from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

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MPHA Health Equity Committee meetings are scheduled for the 3rd Thursday of the month from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Currently all meetings are virtual. Meetings are open to MPHA members and non-members who want to learn more and take action on advancing health equity in Minnesota. 

For more information about the Health Equity Committee,  please email healthequity@mpha.net and we will get back to you! The committee is co-chaired by Madison Anderson, Erica Fishman, and Sara Rogers.