Affirmative Action

Question 1

Arguements for

Answer 1

Most meaningful and effective way the government has so far devised to fulfil the promise of equal opportunities for all

It opens up areas of education and employment which some members of minority groups otherwise may not have considered

Programmes have led to more diversity in the community. This would not have happened by leaving things the way they were

It works. From 1960-95, the % of black people aged 25-29 who graduated from university rose from 5% to 15%. President Clinton said that it had been ‘good for America’

In education, a diverse student body helps create a better learning environment, but also one in which racial and ethnic tolerance is promoted. It helps achieve this

Helped to reverse centuries of discrimination and has righted historical wrongs. Previously disadvantaged groups are now advantaged

Question 2

Arguements against

Answer 2

Perpetuates a society based on race. This encourages the very prejudice that it seeks to end. Some people call it reverse racism

Advantage for one group inevitably leads to disadvantage for another group

Can lead to people being admitted to courses or jobs that they are not equipped to cope with. A 2004 study found that affirmative action led to underachievement

Can be condescending to minorities by implying that they need a helping hand to succeed, so it undermines their achievements and divides the black community

Has led to resentment and inequalities among the majority community, worsening racial divisions

Can be seen as no more than a quota system under a different name

Some see it as merely reverse discrimination

Some think it is patronising to minorities and unfair to majorities

Some think that we should simply be colour blind

Some think that using bussing and quotas to create an artificial race balance in schools is wrong

Some think that quotas, targets and goals in employment is wrong

Question 3

How was the 1961 Equal Opportunity Employment Commission an example of affirmative action

Answer 3

Its role in affirmative action can be better understood in its historical perspective

JFK issued this executive order in 1961, which was a groundbreaking step in the area of civil rights and employment discrimination

The order aimed to promote equal opportunity in federal employment by outlawing discrimination

The EEOC, established through the 1964 Civil Rights Act, is a federal agency set up to enforce these rules outlawing employment discrimination

Affirmative action is a policy approach that was later developed as part of the EEOC’s to address historical and systemic discrimination and promote equal employment opportunities for underrepresented groups

Affirmative action is a set of policies that go beyond simply outlawing discrimination. It improves proactive to increase the representation of certain minority groups in workplaces where they have been historically underrepresented. The underlying principle is to level the playing field by taking positive steps to address imbalances caused by past discrimination and systemic bias. These policies include measures like outreach efforts targeted at underrepresented minorities and women

The EEOC continues to play a role in enforcing and overseeing affirmative action programmes to oversee compliance with anti-discrimination

Question 4

List the three ways in which LBJ contributed to affirmative action in 1965

Answer 4

The Voting Rights Act (1965) - Aimed to eliminate racial discrimination in voting as a response to the widespread and systemic voter suppression faced by African Americans faced in parts of the country. It included provisions to end literacy tests, poll taxes and other tactics used to disenfranchise African Americans

He signed an executive order requiring federal contractors to take affirmative action to ensure that their employment practices were not discriminatory and promoted equal employment opportunities. Laid down the groundwork for affirmative action policies in federal contracting

Howard University Speech – Emphasised the importance of addressing the historical disadvantages faced by African Americans. He expressed this by: ‘You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, and bring him up to the start of the race and say to him that he is completely free to compete with all the others, and still believe that you are being fair’

Question 5

Give an example of racial equality being achieved through constitutional amendment

Answer 5

The 24th amendment abolished the poll tax

Question 6

Give an example of racial equality being achieved through legislation

Answer 6

The 1965 VRA ended literacy tests

Question 7

Give an example of racial equality being achieved through a SC decision

Answer 7

Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka declared segregated schools unconstitutional

Question 8

Give an example of racial equality being achieved through presidential leadership

Answer 8

President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce integration in local schools

Question 9

Give an example of racial equality being achieved through citizen action

Answer 9

The 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott

Question 10

Define affirmative action

Answer 10

The practise or policy of favouring disadvantaged groups. Also known as positive discrimination

Question 11

List some of the characteristics of AA

Answer 11

• Positive discrimination
• Quotas
• Bussing
• Policies overseen by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC)

Question 12

Give some non-examples of AA

Answer 12

• Negative discrimination
• Glass ceiling
• Inequality of opportunity

Question 13

Give some examples of SC cases that revolved around this issue

Answer 13

• Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
• Regents of the University of California v Bakke (1978)
• Adarant Constructors v Pena (1995)
• Grutz v Bollinger (2003)
• Parents Involved in Community schools v Seattle School District (2007)
• Fisher v University of Texas (2013 and 2016)

Question 14

Explain the arguement for equality of outcome as opposed to just equality of opportunity in the race debate

Answer 14

Many civil rights advocates came to believe minority rights and representation could not be guaranteed merely by giving rights to people (equality of opportunity), as this merely gives the appearance of rights and equality

To see the practise of rights and equality, we need equality of outcome

Question 15

Make the case that AA has been effective in America

Answer 15

It has helped reverse decades of discrimination and righted numerous wrongs. The previously disadvantaged are now advantage

Such programmes lead to greater levels of community diversity, which would not have been achieved by just leaving things as they were

Opens up areas of education and employment which some members of minority groups otherwise would not have considered

In education, a diverse student body creates not only a better learning environment, but also one where racial tolerance is promoted

It is the most meaningful and effective means thus far devised by government for delivering the promise of equal opportunity

It works. For example, between 1960-95, the % of black people aged 25-29 who graduated rose from 5% to 15%. President Clinton remarked in 1995, ‘affirmative action has been good for America’

Question 16

Make the case that it has not been effective in America

Answer 16

Advantage or preference for one group inevitably leads to disadvantage for another group. This is the issue of reverse discrimination that the SC was first asked to address in the 1978 Bakke case. As California State Assemblyman Bernie Richer puts it: ‘When you deny someone who has earned it and give it to someone who has not earned it, you create anger and resentment’

It can lead to people being admitted to courses or jobs that they are ill equipped to cope. In a study of US law schools in Nov 2004 Stanford Law Review, Richard Sander found that putting black students into classes with white students who had higher SAT scores and college grades resulted in ‘close to half of black students ending up in the bottom tenth of their classes’

Can be seen as condescending to minorities by implying that they need a helping hand to succeed, thereby demeaning their achievement. It has therefore divided the black community rather than empowered it

Perpetuates a society based on colour and race, thereby encouraging the very racism it sought to end

No more than a quota system under a different name

Led to resentment and inequalities among the majority community

Lowers aspirations for minority groups by offering racial preferences

Question 17

What do we need to determine before we can analyse how effective AA has been?

Answer 17

In order to judge whether or not it has been fair and effective, we must first establish what it is meant to achieve

Question 18

What is the consensus about what AA is meant to do?

Answer 18

Back in 1978, Justice Harry Blackmun suggested that the legitimacy of AA was in terms of how fast they moved society towards a time when they would no longer be needed and a society in which race no longer mattered. This was the line of argument that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor took in the 2003 Grutter decision when she announced the 25 year ‘limit’ to AA programmes

Question 19

Why do some think that AA is bound to fail?

Answer 19

Some politicians and philosophers think that it is bound to fail by this measure because a programme based on race is unlikely to move society to a point where race no longer counts.

Question 20

What did Clarence Thomas say in 1995 to support this?

Answer 20

I believe that there is a moral and constitutional equivalence between laws designed to subjugate a race and those designed to distribute benefits on the basis of race in order to foster some notion of equality. Government cannot make us equal

Question 21

What 4 things can we do with AA programmes?

Answer 21

abolish them, gradually phase them out, reform them or keep them as they are.

Question 22

Explain the idea of abolition

Answer 22

Conservatives, mostly found in the R party, tend to favour abolition. They argue that society is not about equality but equality of opportunity and that an unequal society has the benefit of providing incentives. Quotas are, in their view, a disincentive to hard work and self improvement. Furthermore, conservatives would point towards certain minority groups within the USA, such as immigrants from Southeast Asia, who have succeeded without the benefit of AA programmes. Against those who argue that AA is necessary to make up for past discrimination, they argue that today’s issues of inequality are not about past discrimination but are rooted in lifestyle choices, like those concerned with drugs, alcohol and parenting, that people make for themselves today. Finally, conservatives argue that, paradoxically, AA is based on the same false premise upon which segregation was based – racism

Question 23

Explain the idea of gradually phasing them out

Answer 23

Others of a more moderate persuasion agree with some of the above but would be impressed by all that AA programmes have achieved. Their argument is that there must become a time when these programmes become unnecessary

Question 24

Explain the option of reforming them

Answer 24

The third argument was expressed by Clinton’s ‘mend it, don’t end it’ catchphrase. This suggests that these programmes will need tweaking as their effects are more widely felt, and that reform, rather than abolition, is what is called for

Question 25

Explain the option of keeping them as they are

Answer 25

Progressive liberals, found in the D party, would see AA as something that needs to continue and has much left to still do. For example, they would point out that Blacks and Hispanics are under represented in terms of bachelors degrees. Liberals would therefore argue that the vision of an equal society is still one in the future. The importance of police treatment of blacks was highligted by the death of George Floyd in 2020, and wider issues such as Confederate statues and wealth inequality, only strengthen the argument for more rather than fewer initiatives to improve the lot of America’s racial minorities

Question 26

Explain the overall view on AA amongst the US population

Answer 26

There is a clear polarisation of views about how effective AA has been and what the future holds for the approach. While the advent of BLM continues to place race at the centre of US politics, there is no consensus about what should happen with AA