Race - Affirmative Action Flashcards
What is affirmative action
A programmed giving members of a previously disadvantaged minority group a head start (e.g. in higher education)
What is equality of opportunity
The view that everyone has the same level of opportunity
What is equality of results
The view that an institution should reflect the racial diversity of the nation
Did the court case restrict or protect affirmative action?
Bakke (1978)
First undermining of Affirmative Action - Ruled out quotas
Did the court case restrict or protect affirmative action?
Gratz v Bollinger (2003)
Restricted Affirmative action
Said that giving marks due to race was too mechanistic
What did justices say on the affirmative action: O’Conner
Said AA was good but it may not be needed in the future
What did justices say on the affirmative action: Thomas
Is black but does not support AA
What did Roberts say on Affirmative Action
The way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race
Fisher V Texas (2013)
Fisher complained that she didn’t get a place at the university of Texas on the basis of race
Court upheld affirmative action
What are the 4 different views on Affirmative Action
Reform it
Keep it
Get rid of it
Phase it out
Explain the belief that AA should be reformed
Believe that AA should be based on prosperity rather than race
Explain the belief that AA should be kept
Liberals - point out that minorities are underrepresented in terms of bachelor degree awards at US universities
Explain the belief that AA should be abolished
Conservative view - That society is not about equality rather equality of opportunity
Explain the belief that AA should be phased out
Appreciated the role that AA has played but believes that in the future it will no longer be necessary
Arguments that AA is beneficial
Leads to greater levels of diversity
Best way of delivering equality
Rights previous wrongs
Can be phased out
Arguments that AA is not beneficial
Can lead to minorities being admitted to courses or jobs with which they are ill-equipped to cope
Can be condescending to minorities
Stops incentives to work hard
‘Reverse discrimination’
Example of Americans supporting AA
63% say they are in favour of AA programmes to overcome past discrimination
Example of AA causing an increase in equality due to AA
Between 1960-1995, the percentage of black people aged 25-29 who graduated from university rose from 5% to 15%
Example of AA not being effective
Only 4% of African Americans say they have been ‘helped’ by affirmative action programmes
8% say they have been hurt & 88% say they have not been affected
Example of Americans not supporting AA
Only 24% believe that every possible effort should be made to improve the portion of minorities, including preferential treatment. 72% disagree with this
Example of AA leading to poor performance of minorities out of their depth
A study of law schools in 2004 found that putting black students in classes with white students who had higher grades resulted in almost half of the black students ending in the bottom 10% of the class
