Toward An America as Good as Its Promise
Ensuring Ensuring Equal Opportunity at a Critical Juncture for American Democracy
Over the last decade, we have witnessed major social changes across the United States. As one example, in 2023 the Supreme Court found the affirmative action policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina unconstitutional, and people have used the limited decision to attack equalizing access to education and economic opportunity. These attacks have significantly increased harm to patients and health workers, diminished law school access for students of color, and raised many concerns about how they could negatively impact the future of the United States.
Despite these challenges, the civil rights community has remained unwavering in its conviction that everyone deserves to thrive — that policies and institutions should foster prosperity and dignity, not perpetuate discrimination and exclusion. It is this conviction that has led to many of the legal, political, and social advancements we enjoy today. And it offers insight into how the civil rights community might carry our vision of liberty and justice into the future.
The notion that any promises of justice will remain unfulfilled absent fair access to economic and educational opportunities has been a central tenet of the civil rights movement for decades. This is evident in a number of events: Ruby Bridges being the sole student to integrate an all-white public school in New Orleans; over 200,000 people marching on the nation's capital in support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; or the hundreds of fast-food workers from New York City who successfully secured fairer pay for millions of people by walking out of their jobs in protest. In each of these situations, people were willing to risk their lives to fight against discrimination and promote equal opportunity. Now, opponents of progress are intensifying their efforts to dismantle the policies and practices the country secured through these sacrifices.
As Donald Trump steps back into the role of president of the United States, with an expected revival of anti-democratic sentiments and practices, it is necessary to reaffirm a vision for the future. We must proactively advance a vision of equal opportunity for all and counter anti-civil rights roadblocks. Below, we offer a framework for how to move the country toward this goal at this historical inflection point — and highlight how the Legal Defense Fund’s Equal Protection Initiative (EPI) is playing a role in making that happen.
PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY
Ensuring Equal Protection Under the Law
There are calculated efforts across nearly every sector to permanently relegate many Americans to second-class citizenship based on their race, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status. By undermining civil rights protections like the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, opponents of progress are attempting to thwart Black people’s access to high-paying jobs, quality education, financial services, and numerous other pathways to success in America.
Adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War to end the racial subjugation of Black people, the 14th Amendment issues a promise of equal protection under the law to people in America. In establishing the Equal Protection Clause, America signaled its commitment to ensuring the equality of all people, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, or disability status.
But this promise has not been fully realized. To bring a vision of equal opportunity for all to the forefront of society, EPI is diligently working to ensure the government functions fairly and adequately addresses barriers to opportunity. This means holding our democratic institutions accountable when they perpetuate racial discrimination — and preventing further discrimination from happening in the future.
Equalizing Access to Quality Education
Access to quality education is still one of the most reliable paths to upward mobility for Black people and other people of color in America. Testament to this are the brave Black individuals who routinely sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to integrate schools and ensure their children had a fair chance to succeed. And while segregation in schooling did not entirely disappear after the watershed Brown v. Board of Education decision, the re-segregation of our nation’s schools has gained momentum in recent years.
Educational institutions should adopt admissions practices that value the contributions of students from all backgrounds and walks of life and recognize that a lack of access to AP-level courses or extracurricular activities is not the same as a lack of talent. Among other things, colleges and universities should expand their outreach and recruitment activities to include historically marginalized students and ensure they are maintaining campus environments that allow all students to succeed.
K-12 systems also play a vital role in preparing students for an increasingly competitive job market. For example, promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for Black students opens doors to high-paying careers in rapidly growing industries such as technology, health care, and engineering. Not only does this change the social circumstances of individuals and their families, but it makes the United States more competitive in an increasingly diverse and multi-racial global economy.
LDF is working to ensure laws, policies, and educational practices expand, rather than constrict, access to education for students from all backgrounds. This is not only essential for individuals and their families, but also for the strength and vitality of our democracy and economy.
Supporting Workers and Business Owners
Though there has been tangible progress in recent decades, Black Americans still face persistent discrimination in hiring, promotions, and pay equity. Black workers, on average, earn less than their white counterparts, even when controlling for education, experience, and job type. Similarly, Black entrepreneurs and business owners face discriminatory barriers to accessing capital, are routinely denied business loans, and are denied public and private contracting opportunities. It is important to note these disparities are not caused by differences in skill and talent. Rather, they stem from decades of systemic discrimination. Recently, opponents of racial progress have intensified their efforts to preserve this discriminatory status quo by attacking programs designed to level the playing field and questioning the credentials of qualified Black professionals by labeling them “DEI” hires.
This exclusion hurts us all — both socially and economically. For instance, it is projected that the racial wealth gap will cost America’s economy at least one trillion dollars in lost consumption and investment between 2019 and 2028. Socially, racial discrimination increases division, decreases trust, reduces productivity, and negatively impacts mental health.
Every person deserves a job where they can earn a living wage under safe and healthy conditions — where their contributions are valued, they are treated with dignity, and their advancement opportunities are determined by their skills and work ethic. By eliminating unnecessary job requirements and criminal history restrictions, offering all employees access to mentoring opportunities, and recruiting from a variety of educational institutions — including historically Black colleges and universities — the government and private sector can better address the disparities that undermine Black people’s progress toward economic prosperity.
TOWARD AN AMERICA AS GOOD AS ITS PROMISE
While the United States has significantly advanced racial, social, and economic justice since its founding, our civil rights laws need to be continually strengthened to address the modern inequities that Black communities continue to face.
Rather than dismantling civil rights protections, the country needs to build fair educational and economic systems that offer real opportunities for upward mobility, where the wealth and potential of our nation are shared more equally. That means reinvigorating our civil rights laws and investing in proven practices to achieve greater equality. And while the mission of LDF is to secure the dignity and full citizenship of Black Americans, we cannot work in isolation. Rather, our organization is part of a broader movement to make America more inclusive, ensuring that all people of color, women, LGBTQ+ communities, and anyone else relegated to the margins of society fully partake in the nation’s promises of equality and opportunity for all.
Grounding our economy in inclusive civil rights principles opens the door to a future that is morally sound and economically prosperous. Opponents of progress must not be allowed to use their tactics of division and distraction to prevent America from achieving this goal.
As Barbara Jordan said during her keynote address at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, “We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present ... we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal.”