Race

Question 1

What is the debate between ‘equality of opportunity’ and equality of outcome’?

Answer 1

‘Equality of opportunity’ is where all people should have equal chances and facilities to fulfil their potential, whereas ‘equality of outcome’ is where everyone achieves the same outcome due to intervention.

Question 2

What is busing?

Answer 2

Busing - movement of school children between racially homogenous areas in order to create integrated education.

Question 3

What are quotas?

Answer 3

Quotas - a process by which a % of jobs and university places are reserved for minorities.

Question 4

What is affirmative action?

Answer 4

Affirmative action - a programme to counteract existing discrimination by giving minority students a head start in employment/education.

Question 5

What does ‘equality of outcome’ look like for civil rights groups and Democrats?

Answer 5

For civil rights groups and Democrats, ‘equality of outcome’ would mean that all places of work, neighbourhoods and educational offerings would broadly mirror the ethnic and cultural makeup of society.

Question 6

Why do conservatives oppose affirmative action?

Answer 6

Conservatives believe that affirmative action schemes are patronising to minorities and unfair towards majority groups in populations. They argue that for effective equality, the constitution should be ‘colour blind’ and not attempt to create an artificial racial imbalance.

Question 7

What impact did Gratz v. Bollinger have on affirmative action?

Answer 7

• 2003
• Gratz v. Bollinger ruled that the University of Michigan’s affirmative action policy was unconstitutional due to the universal awarding of points for application to all minority applicants. Described as ‘mechanistic’.

Question 8

What impact did Grutter v. Bollinger have on affirmative action schemes?

Answer 8

2003
Grutter v. Bollinger resulted in the University of Michigan’s affirmative action schemes were constitutional as it made use of other metrics and values in its application process alongside affirmative action measures.

Question 9

How did Regents of the University of California v. Bakke impact affirmative action measures?

Answer 9

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke saw it deemed that racial quotas in university admissions processes was unconstitutional, yet other measures to achieve positive discrimination were permitted in admissions processes.

Question 10

How did Fisher v. Texas impact affirmative action measures? How did Fisher II impact affirmative action measures?

Answer 10

Fisher v. Texas ruled that the University of Texas must subject the use of race in its admissions process to further scrutiny given the potential for discrimination.
Fisher II upheld a Court of Appeal ruling which ensured that affirmative action measures were deemed constitutional.

Question 10

What is the ‘25 year limit’ talked about by Sandra Day O’Connor?

Answer 10

Sandra Day O’Connor’s idea of the ‘25 year limit’ set out the point at which affirmative action measures would likely become ineffective and unnecessary having achieved the change that they intended to do by creating equality of outcome.

Question 11

How do conservatives view affirmative action measures?

Answer 11

Conservatives believe that affirmative action measures would perpetrate the continuation of a society based on race and potentially disincentivise hard work. Equality of opportunity emphasised rather than equality of outcome. They argue that countering existing inequality with another inequality does not lead to progress.

Question 12

How do moderates view affirmative action?

Answer 12

Moderates believe that affirmative action schemes have achieved immense progress but also that the arguments of conservatives are somewhat grounded in truth. They would also argue that there becomes a point when these schemes should be reformed and eventually unnecessary.

Question 13

How do progressives/liberals view affirmative action?

Answer 13

Progressives/liberals view affirmative action as something which has achieved progress but as something which has not fulfilled its potential. These measures are needed to reach equality in the proportions of minorities across higher education.

Question 14

How did the Bush Government protect voting rights in 2006 through Congress?

Answer 14

The Bush Government reauthorised the provisions of the Voting Rights Act for a further 25 years in 2006 through Congress.

Question 15

How did the 2021 For the People Act protect voting rights?

Answer 15

The 2021 For the People Act took measures to reduce the risk of gerrymandering by making the redrawing of congressional districts an independent task, hence preventing the concentration of minority voters or their dispersal across congressional districts.

Question 16

How did Shelby County v. Holder undermine voting rights?

Answer 16

• 2013
• Shelby County v. Holder resulted in the federal preclearance formula of the Voting Rights Act being deemed unconstitutional due to it being based on historical provisions
• This then allowed states to pass laws on voter registration and ID which would have disproportionate impacts on minority voters.

Question 17

How many times higher is the rate of felony exclusion from voting for black voters compared to white voters?

Answer 17

The rate of black felony exclusions from voting is 4 times higher than the rate for white voters.

Question 18

How many states introduced a photo ID requirement in the aftermath of the Shelby ruling?

Answer 18

9 states introduced a photo ID requirement in the run up to the 2016 election which targeted black voters much more proportionately following the Shelby ruling.

Question 19

How many states had disenfranchised more than 10% of their black electorates through felony convictions? How many states had disenfranchised more than 20%?

Answer 19

11 states disenfranchised more than 10% of their black electorates, while 2 states had disenfranchised more than 20% of their electorates.

Question 20

How has the Supreme Court intervened to diminish voting rights in 2020 in terms of felony convictions?

Answer 20

The Supreme Court has acted to allow Florida to disenfranchise those with felony convictions who has not paid court fines and fees.

Question 21

By what factor has black Congressional representation increased between 1984 and 2021?

Answer 21

Between 1984 and 2021, black Congressional representation has tripled from 21 representatives to 63 representatives.

Question 22

What % of representatives in the 117th Congress are from minority ethnic groups? How does this compare to the population as a whole?

Answer 22

26% of representatives in the 117th Congress were from minority ethnic groups. This compares to 39% of the population as a whole, meaning these groups are under-represented still.

Question 23

What are majority-minority districts? How do they aid minority representation?

Answer 23

Majority-minority districts are congressional districts established with a majority of its population being from minority groups, meaning that these groups have a better chance of determining who candidates are in primaries and in electing representatives who may reflect their ethnic background.

Question 24

How many candidates for major parties in 2016 were minority ethnic (out of the total number of candidates)?

Answer 24

In 2016, only 3 of 22 candidates for the presidency were minority ethnic, 1 of which was black.

Question 25

What % of Biden’s cabinet is non-white? What % of Trump’s cabinet was non-white?

Answer 25

40% of Biden’s cabinet is non-white, whereas Trump’s cabinet was only 20% non-white.

Question 26

What example is there of minority representation in the Biden cabinet?

Answer 26

Deb Haaland is the first Native American Secretary of State, Kamala Harris as Vice-President has both Asian and Black heritage.

Question 27

How did Parents Involved v. Seattle impact bussing measures designed to secure a racial balance in schools?

Answer 27

Parents Involved v. Seattle determined that it was unconstitutional to assign students to particular schools solely to achieve a racial balance in schools to overcome educational segregation enforced by housing patterns.

Question 28

What advantages have there been of affirmative action in the US?

Answer 28

Affirmative action has reversed years of discrimination in the US, has created greater levels of community diversity, has opened up areas of employment and educational offerings to areas where it had previously been unavailable, created improved equality of outcome, creates racial toleration.

Question 29

What did the % of black 25-29 year olds graduating from college rise from-to between 1960 and 1995?

Answer 29

Between 1960 and 1995, the % of black 25-29 year olds graduating from college rose from 5% to 15%.

Question 30

What disadvantages of affirmative action have there been in the US?

Answer 30

This has created reverse discrimination upon majority groups, has seen people get jobs that they are ill-equipped for, has created a disparity between black and white students in same classes, seen as condescending to minorities, creates society based on race rather than a colour blind one, creates resentment between communities.

Question 31

What examples have there been of direct action taken to establish voting rights?

Answer 31

Bus Boycotts in Alabama, Freedom Rides, Civil Rights Era marches, speeches by MLK, state level movements operating to prevent discriminatory laws.

Question 32

What as voting caging? What Supreme Court case recently permitted this practice?

Answer 32

Voting caging is where an individual is struck off a voting register if they have not cast a ballot within a prolonged period, with this found to have impacted minority groups more so. 2018’s Husted v. Randolph institute recently allowed this practice.

Question 33

What % of current minority representatives are Democrats?

Answer 33

84% of current minority representatives are Democrats.

Question 34

How many times larger is the % of Hispanic people in the US compared to the % of Hispanic people in Congress?

Answer 34

The % of Hispanic people in the US is 2 times larger than the % of Hispanic members of Congress.

Question 35

Since when has every Congress in the US seen a steady increase in the number of ethnic minority representatives?

Answer 35

Since 2011, every Congress has seen a steady increase in the numbers of minority representatives.