Fisher v. Fisher: A Critical Race Feminist Counterstory of College Access Through Supreme Court Oral Arguments

• In Event: Black Women, Feminist Thought, and Education Revolution

Abstract

In this racial equity counterstory, on-going anti-affirmative action strategies to eradicate race-conscious admissions are examined and critiqued through a fictional meeting of three Black women including a pre-Brown plaintiff, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher. Critical Race Feminism (CRF), a progeny of Critical Race Theory, is used to analyze oral argument excerpts from Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) (Fisher I) and Fisher v. University of Texas (2016) (Fisher II). The author argues the Fisher cases are exemplars of how legal discourse about race-based admissions remain stymied due to white legal logic, the normalcy of white privilege and the myth of meritocracy. Recommendations are shared for achieving racial equity and why the consideration of race remains crucial for higher education access.

Author

• LaWanda W. Ward, The Pennsylvania State University - University Park