FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the Supreme Court decisions to overrule landmark affirmative action precedent in college admissions, weaken protections for LGBTQ+ people, and reject the Biden-Harris administration’s student loan forgiveness plan dealt severe blows to the rights and freedoms of women of color, domestic workers, care workers, and young people across the nation.
In response, Care in Action – the national policy and advocacy home for 2.2 million domestic workers, who are majority Black, Latinx, AAPI, Indigenous, and immigrant women – condemned not only today’s SCOTUS rulings, but also the decades-long strategy to undo life-saving generational progress made possible by various liberation movements, whose supporters stand to be directly impacted by the decisions. These rulings will also perpetuate the right-wing’s plan to continue implementing policies and litigation strategies to further erode our social safety nets during an ongoing economic, housing, and health crises that people of all walks of life are facing in the wake of the pandemic.
Care in Action Executive Director Hillary Holley released the following statement:
“Today we are witnessing the Supreme Court continue their rampage to undo 50 years of progress made possible by Black and brown women, immigrant women, women of color, LGBTQ+ communities, and workers across the nation. What we see unfolding – SCOTUS-sanctioned rulings that corporations, businesses, loan providers, colleges, and institutions have more rights than the humans that make it possible for this country to even exist – is, in its most simple distillation, proof that those making decisions in the highest court in the land want to not only see those historically marginalized even more oppressed, but they are willing to sacrifice everyone in America to protect a privileged few.
For domestic workers and care workers, these decisions are extremely detrimental to their ability to live with dignity or even meet their basic needs. These workers, who are the engine of our economy and the heart of our society, have been left out of basic workplace protections and federal anti-discrimination laws. Now, the court has set a dangerous precedent that will open up workers to even more discrimination that is likely to lead to loss of wages and potential violence. We know that furthering our education opens up a world of opportunity and access, but this court has effectively ruled that colleges can make those decisions for us. And we know that student loan forgiveness will help narrow the racial wealth gap between Black and white families, but this court has effectively ruled that they’d prefer to keep borrowers under the weight of crippling debt.
Our communities stand to suffer drastically from the latter. Let’s be clear. Student loan relief is not an issue of government bureaucracy. It is an issue of racial and socioeconomic justice. It is why Care in Action called nearly 8,200 people of color in South Carolina in 2022 to ensure they had accurate information to access the Biden-Harris loan relief program, ensuring they knew about President Biden’s announcement and had the support they needed to complete their applications. This is the nature of work we’re committed to – getting people the support they need to live full lives. SCOTUS and the Republicans who got us to this point have done the opposite with precision – but we have a plan for that.
Care in Action looks forward to working alongside domestic workers, care workers, and our partners to build the future we know is possible. And we’re urging the Biden-Harris Administration to take immediate executive action to undo the harm SCOTUS and Republican leaders have inflicted on this country. We will fight, once again, for the pendulum to swing toward justice, and we will fight to keep it there.”
Care in Action is the policy and advocacy home for women who care, working on behalf of more than two million domestic workers and care workers across America. Among the fastest-growing sectors in our economy, domestic workers are also among the most vulnerable and undervalued. As a mostly women and majority women of color workforce, this growing constituency consistently and overwhelmingly supports progressive values in American political life. Learn more at www.careinaction.us.