Affirmative action

what are the alternatives as to what to do with affirmative action?

- abolish - phase them out - reform them - keep them as they are

arguments against (5)

- advantage or preference for one group leads inevitably to disadvantage to for another group - can lead minorities to be admitted to courses or given jobs with which they are ill-equipped to cope - affirmative action can be condescending to minorities by implying that they need a helping hand in order to succeed - perpetuates a society based on colour and race - focuses on groups rather than individuals

arguments for (6)

- such programmes lead to greater diversity - affirmative action is justified on the basis that it rights previous wrongs - opens up areas of education and employment which minorities otherwise would not have considered - in education, a diverse student body creates a better learning environment where ethnic and 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

what is the current position on affirmative action?

- the courts will subject any quote system created by a state or local government to 'strict scrutiny' and will be looking for 'compelling' jurisdiction for it - quotas or preference systems cannot be used by state or local governments without first showing that such rules are needed to correct an actual last or present pattern of discrimination - in proving that there has been discrimination, it is not enough to show that minority groups are statistically underrepresented among employees, contractors or union members - quotas or preference systems that are created by federal law will be given greater deference, in part because section 5 of the 14th amendment gives to congress powers not given to the states to correct the effects of racial discrimination

what did the Michigan mandate include?

1. the leadership of the state ought roughly to represent the state's population ethnically and racially 2. as the state's premier training ground for leadership, the university ought to graduate rising generations of future leaders that conform to this representational goal 3. to graduate such rising generations, it needs to admit racially and ethnically representative classes

what was the unemployment like for African Americans in January 2012?

13.6%, 38.5% among 16-19 year olds

what was the result to the question : 'do you think that we should make every possible effort to improve the position of blacks and other minorities, even if it means giving them preferential treatment?' ?

24% - agreed 72% - disagreed

what was the result to the question : 'do you think affirmative action programmes designed to increase the number of black and minority students on college campuses are fair or unfair'?

47% - fair 42% - unfair

example of growth of African Americans in terms of bachelor degree awards at american universities

5.8% of the total in 1990 to 9.6% by 2006

what was the result of the question : do you think affirmative action programmes designed to increase the number of black and minority students on college campuses are a good or bad thing?

60% - good 30% - bad

what was the result of the question : 'in order to overcome past discrimination, do you favour or oppose affirmative action programmes?'

63% - in favour 29% - opposed

what was the national average unemployment rate?

8.3%

what is the goal of affirmative action?

a fully integrated society

why did many democrat politicians begin to believe that the government needed to discriminate positively in favour of African-Americans in such as housing, education and employment?

given how disadvantaged African-Americans had been during the 100 years after the civil war

how many whites had been helped/hurt/not affected by affirmative action?

helped - 2% hurt - 13% not affected - 84%

how many African Americans had been helped/hurt/not affected by affirmative action?

helped - 4% hurt - 8% not affected - 87%

what happened in two cases in 2007?

in Parents involved in community schools inc v. seattle schools district and Meredith v. Jefferson county (Kentucky) board of education - the court struck down affirmative action programmes in Washington state and Kentucky because they assigned students to state run schools solely for the purpose of achieving racial balance

when did affirmative action start?

in march 1961, when John F. Kennedy created the EEOc which required projects that were financed with federal funds to 'take affirmative action'

what did president Nixon do? (1969-1974)

instituted 'set aside' policies to reserve a certain percentage of jobs for minorities on federally funded construction projects

what did president johnson do in 1965?

issued an executive order requiring federal government contractors 'to take affirmative action' towards protective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment

what did the bakke case of 1978 say about the target of affirmative action?

justice harry blackmun suggested that the legitimacy of affirmative action programmes was to be measured by how fast they moved society towards a time when they would no longer be needed

how many liberals/conservative support affirmative action

liberals - 59% conservatives - 32%

what was affirmative action meant to lead to?

multiculturalism and diversity

first case to bring about criticism of affirmative action

regents of university of California v. bakke (1978)

how do liberals see affirmative action

something that must continue and has must left still to do

what did republicans and conservative groups come to believe about affirmative action?

that they were both patronising to minorities and unfair to majorities, they believed that the constitution and both federal and state laws should be 'colour blind'

what happened in the case Adarand v. peña (1995)

the Supreme Court did not declare affirmative action unconstitutional but re-established the need for 'strict scrutiny' to ensure that federal affirmative action programmes had a specific purpose and jurisdiction

what happened in university of California v. bakke (1978)

the Supreme Court imposed limitations on affirmative action to ensure that providing greater opportunities for minorities did not come at the expense of the rights of the majority

what was addressed in the two bollinger decisions in 2003?

the issue of the likelihood of affirmative action programmes being able to achieve their desired aims

what did justice Sandra day o'connor announce in 2003 about aim of affirmative action?

there should be a 25 year limit to the programmes

how do conservatives see affirmative action

they favour the abolition of the programmes, society is not about equality but equality of opportunity

what did the university of Michigan say?

they had stated that the reason for its affirmative action programme was to strive for a reasonable representation of minorities on the campus because if would further its mission to prepare michigan's further leaders

how many African Americans/ whites support affirmative action?

whites - 44% African Americans - 72%