‘Mourning in America’ Demonstration After Affirmative Action Ruling by Supreme Court

Demonstrators out Tuesday morning in New York, following last Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling against race-based affirmative action in higher education and other recent court decisions.

Demonstrators with The Church of Stop Shopping gathered outside the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse early on Independence Day, in protest of the SCOTUS decision to restrict the consideration of race in college admissions, effectively overruling decades-old decisions on the issue stemming from prior rulings in 1978 (Regents of the University of California v Bakke) and 2003 (Grutter v Bollinger). In two cases decided last week, Students for Fair Admissions v Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v University of North Carolina, the court ruled that race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions processes are unconstitutional.

Reverend Billy of the group also cited recent rulings against EPA regulatory power, the overruling of Roe v Wade, and perceived monetary influence over justices on the Court as reasons for the action.

Dressed in black, demonstrators waved black flags and sang near the court in Lower Manhattan. The event remained peaceful throughout, eventually dispersing from outside the courthouse.