By Jeremy Mitchell

With the data showing that the majority of Americans agree with the Supreme Court’s decision to end Affirmative Action, based on the numbers, we can call the decision a victory for the American Majority. While the revolution was not televised, I imagine the American Majority won their liberation from Affirmative Action by marching and singing freedom songs. Because they clearly weren’t gonna let nobody turn them around.

The way the American Majority has celebrated the decision on the various news platforms, you would think the University of Wisconsin-Madison Black student population (which hovers at a whopping 2.5 percent) for years must have been standing in the schoolhouse door using Affirmative Action to block non-Black students from accessing higher education in Wisconsin. But finally, the American Majority’s nightmare is over. With the ending of Affirmative Action, they can thankfully expect the UW Madison Black student population to become healthier. Healthier at least in the way we look at milk, where 2 percent is better than 2.5.

Some in the American Majority have stated their belief that ending Affirmative Action is in line with elements of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. While I disagree, my sense is that the Supreme Court did indeed have a dream. The Supreme Court had a dream, that one day, there would be less Black students riding to Madison on the Badger Bus every September. The Supreme Court had a dream, that the popular sports movie should have been titled Only White Men Can Jump or maybe Black Men Can’t Jump between the 3rd and 4th quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. The Supreme Court had a dream, that ironically, fewer Black students wearing cap and gown would take the traditional commencement photo sitting on Abraham Lincoln’s lap at Bascom Hill.

Now that the Supreme Court’s dream has come true, their justice will roll down like flood waters onto many Black pupil’s pursuit of happiness. But perhaps there is a silver lining. Black students can now look forward to fewer instances of their checks coming back marked insufficient funds as the Affirmative Action ruling may save thousands of Black learners from falling into student loan debt, as they will likely find reduced options as they plan to attend college. Free at last? Well, Black learners might at the very least be student loan debt-free at last.