‘This Case Shouldn’t Be Here Again’: Activists Outside the Supreme Court on ‘Fisher’ and Race

As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the latest in a long line of cases to challenge race-conscious college admissions, protesters gathered outside.

In front of the court’s steps, members of civil-rights groups stood around a podium, holding up signs that said "#Opportunity4ALL” and "#fishervut.” On the other side of the sidewalk, counterprotesters chanted, “No more racial quotas!”

It was the second time Fisher had been heard here — in 2013 the court issued a limited ruling that did not broadly revisit affirmative-action policies — and the scene outside may have seemed familiar.

But now the case returned to the court amid racial protests on campuses across the country. Outside the building, protesters — mostly civil-rights leaders, not students — occasionally cited events of the past year, on campus and off, arguing that the case could affect minority populations for decades to come.

“What happens here is related to what happened in Ferguson,” said Dennis Parker, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program. “It’s related to the University of Missouri, and it has to change.”

“This case shouldn’t be here again,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told the crowd. “We should be expanding opportunity, not restricting it.”

The protesters chanted and sang, but mostly they listened. Organized by the National Action Network, leaders of civil-rights groups started speaking an hour before the court session began, and continued for more than two hours.

While the speakers took note of recent campus activism, it wasn’t a driving force in their speeches. Most often, they mentioned it in the context of other civil-rights symbols: Ferguson, Mo.; Brown v. Board of Education; Rosa Parks.

In interviews, many protesters said a lack of broad access to higher education helps drive the racial tensions on campuses. Without a large presence at colleges and universities, they said, minority students feel unwelcome.

“If you look at the demands of the protesters across the country, you see a consistent pattern of complaints about racial isolation, campuses not being a place that celebrates inclusion, and a lot of this relates to access,” said Marcus Bright, executive director of Education for a Better America, a group that promotes education in urban communities. “What the protesters have uncovered is an institutionalized pattern of a lack of access and diversity on campuses across the country.”

Brenda Calderon, an education-policy analyst, came to the event to show her support for the National Council of La Raza, whose president was among the speakers. Ms. Calderon said the nationwide campus protests had helped show that issues of access and inclusion are still relevant.

“Students are demonstrating because they stand to benefit from racial diversity,” she said. “Students are protesting because they’re not feeling welcome.”

‘Treat All Races the Same’

Across the sidewalk, members of the Asian-American Coalition for Education gathered to protest affirmative action. They held up signs that said, “Treat All Races the Same” and “Support Fair College Admission.” Before the oral arguments began, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, spoke to the group briefly.

“Trying to help some people, there have been unintended consequences by violating the rights of other people,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. “Asian-Americans end up being hurt. Their children are denied — because of their race — entry into our universities.”

The coalition, founded in 2014, argues that affirmative-action policies discriminate against Asian students. In September it filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that race should not be considered in college admissions. Its members were some of the only protesters outside the court on Wednesday to oppose affirmative action.

When the court session ended and audience members started walking outside, the Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, who had watched the arguments inside the courthouse, addressed the protesters.

“The fact that you’re here is important,” he told the thinning crowd. “Where is everybody else?”

He said he was troubled by a comment made by Justice Antonin Scalia in court. Justice Scalia had suggested that some black students would be better served by “less-advanced” colleges. “I didn’t know if I was in the Supreme Court or in a Donald Trump rally,” Mr. Sharpton said.

Christle Nwora, a senior at the University of Texas, traveled to Washington to witness the arguments. She watched from inside, and spoke in an interview after the court adjourned.

“Race is still a very important consideration,” she said. “On our college campuses, this is a very dominant narrative.”