Affirmative Action Flashcards
what is the issue with affirmative action
it no longer works
how is affirmative action counterproductive
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
what has affirmative action led to
a mismatch effect
what is the mismatch effect
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’
what does affirmative action do for universities
It is an effective way to create diverse student bodies at US universities
What did Justice Kennedy argue about AA
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.
how does evidence contradict the mismatch theory
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
what does AA do overall
undermines the achievements of african americans
where was it argued that AA is unfair
University of California v Bakke (found the use of racial quotas unconstitutional)
what has AA done to colleges
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.
what is AA seen as for equality
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
what has happened in universities where they removed AA
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.
when was AA implemented
in a time when African Americans had been significantly disadvantaged affirmative action was needed
what was AA designed to be
temporary
what was the ultimate aim of AA
to absorb and neutralise black demands for equality, not to fulfil them
what did Nixon say about AA
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.
what did a study by Thomas Sowell of the Hoover institution reveal
that racial preferences in university application primarily benefit minority applicants from middle and upper-class backgrounds.
what was the background of AA
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
what did LBJ say about AA
‘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’.
