Affirmative Action (Issue)

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION (ISSUE)

In 1996 a majority of Californians voted for Proposition 209, a state law which attacked affirmative action programs by stating that race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin could not be used to "grant preferential treatment" in the areas of "public employment, public education, or public contracting." The Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) organized the campaign. A member of the University of California Board of Regents argued that affirmative action programs, in place since the 1960s, have hurt more than helped African Americans.

Clearly, the political atmosphere had changed dramatically in the United States since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These measures inaugurated a massive campaign to dismantle legal segregation and to protect the rights of African Americans under federal law. A decade earlier the Supreme Court handed down the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In the Brown case a unanimous Court ruled that state and local governments could no longer maintain racially segregated educational institutions. The Court argued that schools separated by race would always create inferior institutions for black children because isolation "generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone."

In a commencement address at Howard University in June 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) stated that guaranteeing basic equal freedoms was not enough; the nation also had to work toward an "equality of result." However, in a legislative compromise, the actual Civil Rights Act of 1964 disavowed using quotas as an anti-discrimination measure. In September 1965, President Johnson issued Executive Order (EO) 11246, which required employers to search aggressively for qualified minority applicants through such methods as advertising and recruitment in minority communities. It did not establish a means of enforcement to ensure candidates were now considered in a "color-blind" pool of applicants. In addition, EO 11246 did not include gender discrimination, which would be added a few years later.

The willingness of the public to provide a level playing field to the disadvantaged was again under-mined in the 1970s and 1980s when economic recessions created a tight labor market. More of the nation began to view job opportunities as a zero-sum game. This perspective suggested that when an individual belonging to a minority was hired under affirmative action, someone else, probably a white male, was disqualified. As this kind of attitude towards affirmative action became more pervasive, the Supreme Court in 1977 took up a case that addressed "reverse discrimination:" Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1977). Allen Bakke and other higher-ranked white applicants were rejected from the University of California Davis Medical School and argued they had been discriminated against in order to fill a given number of slots with minority applicants. In a majority decision the Supreme Court struck down U.C.-Davis's racial-quota system and ordered Bakke admitted. However, the Court also found that it was acceptable to take race into account as a positive factor in admissions as a way to create a diverse student body. Affirmative action as a system remained intact although institutions were no longer allowed to blatantly use quotas to enforce desegregation.

Some critics of affirmative action want it abolished altogether. They argue that the programs hurt those they intend to help by implying the inferiority of African Americans through the hiring or admitting of less qualified black candidates to jobs and colleges. Opponents of affirmative action claim that these programs lead African Americans to think of themselves as victims of past racial injustices rather than to encourage self-reliance. In addition, critics claim that the country needs "color-blind" policies. In their eyes, affirmative action has already done away with the discriminatory policies and practices that existed prior to the concrete gains of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Other scholars, such as William Julius Wilson, argue that we need "race-neutral" affirmative action. Rather than help the majority of poor African Americans, Wilson claims affirmative action aids mostly upper stratum African Americans and other minorities. He argues that programs based on socio-economic status would provide opportunities to those who most need it in U.S. society including poor whites.

Critics often misrepresent affirmative action in the heated debate. First, the public debate about the issue has been misrepresented solely as a "black and white" issue, even though women and Latinos are important beneficiaries of the opportunities afforded under affirmative action programs as well. In addition, anecdotal evidence is usually used when instances of reverse discrimination are noted. However, in general, companies and colleges often have to decide between white men and African Americans or women who are equally qualified, and race and gender serves as a tiebreaker.

On the other side of the debate, affirmative action supporters provide four major reasons why affirmative action is not only necessary but needs to be strengthened. They say African Americans in the United States were historically harmed by racism and slavery. Historical oppression makes it necessary to give African Americans a head start, leveling the playing field and providing everyone with a fair opportunity. In a 1965 speech President Lyndon Johnson (1963–1969) supported this position, making an analogy to a running event, saying that if one runner got ahead of another whose legs were shackled together, it would be unfair merely to remove the shackles. Instead, in order to ensure a fair race, the shackled runner must be allowed to make up the "40 yards" he lost while in chains.

Another argument in support of affirmative action is that it is needed to overcome the racism still evident in the workplace and education system. Although the number of wealthy and middle class African Americans has increased greatly since the 1960s, a "glass ceiling" still remains as an obstacle to the advancement beyond entry-level jobs for most black men and women.

The third reason given for the need for affirmative action is that it increases diversity at jobs and colleges. By working and studying next to people from diverse backgrounds, some corporate leaders and college admissions officers argue, workers become more productive and students learn more from experiencing different perspectives and cultures. Supporters of affirmative action also suggest that companies can serve their customers better by including more personnel with diverse backgrounds in their decisions.

The fourth argument for these programs is that a social need is addressed by hiring minorities through affirmative action. For example, an African American doctor who grew up in a poor neighborhood might decide to go back and serve the community with his or her medical degree. A good example is the doctor who was admitted to medical school in the place of Allen Bakke. Dr. Patrick Chavis is an obstetrician gynecologist with a practice that serves mostly Medicaid patients in a poor neighborhood in Los Angeles. Another example of the way social needs may be met is that an African American female scientist is more likely to pursue research interests that may improve the health of black women, historically neglected as research subjects, than would a white researcher.

Several conclusions can be drawn about affirmative action despite its controversial nature. First, discrimination and racism still operate in the workplace and the education system in the United States. Second, countless African Americans, women, and Latinos have benefited from a higher education and higher income by taking advantage of affirmative action programs. Third, the benefits to society in raising the income and educational level of minorities outweigh the rarer instances of "reverse discrimination" which take place.

On the other hand, since the original purpose of the civil rights movement was to remove barriers based on race, creed, etc., affirmative action seems to many like a step backward that breeds its own injustice. They maintain that it is as unfair to discriminate against European Americans as it was to discriminate against African Americans, and the children are not responsible for the sins of their parents. It is not the state's job to redress the wrongs of history but to provide equal justice for all. According to this view, society is best served by treating everyone impartially, and in the long run talent will receive its reward. This argument has had the better of it in the public debate, because the national trend since the 1980s has been to reverse policies which overtly favor minorities, women, and the disadvantaged.

See also: Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow Laws

FURTHER READING

Beckwith, Francis J., and Todd E. Jones, eds. Affirmative Action: Social Justice or Reverse Discrimination. Amherst, NH: Prometheus Books, 1997.

Bowen, William G., and Derek Bok. The Shape of the River: Long Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Hacker, Andrew. Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.

Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States From the 1960s to the 1990s, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1994.

Wilson, William Julius. The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.

in a commencement address at howard university in june 1965, president lyndon b. johnson stated that guaranteeing basic equal freedoms was not enough; the nation also had to work toward an "equality of result."