Affirmative Action

Question 1

what is the issue with affirmative action

Answer 1

it no longer works

Question 2

how is affirmative action counterproductive

Answer 2

It is a form of positive discrimination and it leads to the idea that African Americans will only receive their places on the back of their race

Question 3

what has affirmative action led to

Answer 3

a mismatch effect

Question 4

what is the mismatch effect

Answer 4

There is much evidence that the B-grade students will have trouble keeping up. A University of California study following the 1996 ballot initiative outlawing racial preferences found that the total number of black and Hispanic students achieving bachelor’s degrees improved significantly as a result of less ‘mismatch’

Question 5

what does affirmative action do for universities

Answer 5

It is an effective way to create diverse student bodies at US universities

Question 6

What did Justice Kennedy argue about AA

Answer 6

Justice Kennedy came out in support of the goal of diversity in his opinion on the Fisher vs University of Texas case in 2016 arguing that it was central to identity and educational mission.

Question 7

how does evidence contradict the mismatch theory

Answer 7

There was a situation at the University of California where a last-minute increase in the budget meant that students (of all ethnic backgrounds) with lower scores than the admissions cut-off were accepted. These students did not fare any worse than the rest of their cohort in their end-of-course marks

Question 8

what does AA do overall

Answer 8

undermines the achievements of african americans

Question 9

where was it argued that AA is unfair

Answer 9

University of California v Bakke (found the use of racial quotas unconstitutional)

Question 10

what has AA done to colleges

Answer 10

it has divided college campuses rather than fostering harmony and integration. When other students suspect that preferential admissions have had an unfair impact they are then accused of the very racism that was used to justify the affirmative action schemes in the first place.

Question 11

what is AA seen as for equality

Answer 11

It is the best way to move beyond theoretical equality of opportunity towards equality of end result. It provided a platform for disadvantaged groups to do well in life

Question 12

what has happened in universities where they removed AA

Answer 12

Hispanic and black student numbers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles, went down sharply after the implementation of an initiative to ban affirmative action in 1998.

Question 13

when was AA implemented

Answer 13

in a time when African Americans had been significantly disadvantaged affirmative action was needed

Question 14

what was AA designed to be

Answer 14

temporary

Question 15

what was the ultimate aim of AA

Answer 15

to absorb and neutralise black demands for equality, not to fulfil them

Question 16

what did Nixon say about AA

Answer 16

He made clear delineation between ‘good blacks’ and the rest. He talked of the ‘35% of blacks we can do business with’. By this he meant those who were, or were potentially, middle class.

Question 17

what did a study by Thomas Sowell of the Hoover institution reveal

Answer 17

that racial preferences in university application primarily benefit minority applicants from middle and upper-class backgrounds.

Question 18

what was the background of AA

Answer 18

Against the backdrop of the 1960s civil rights movement, it was clear that concrete steps were needed to help repair the effects of slavery and opposition suffered by the black community

Question 19

what did LBJ say about AA

Answer 19

‘you do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and say “you are now free to compete with all the others”, and still justly believe that you have been completely fair’.