3 - Race, the Affirmative Action Debate, Education, and Past Court Cases

Summary

Introduction

Why is affirmative action still a thing? Haven't we finally moved past race in American society? Why do we still have to reflect on the past, notably Jim Crow segregation and slavery? Many Americans have said, “I’m not a racist, so why am I getting punished?” They also lament that the US has atoned for their racist past and should now focus on merit and rewarding hard work rather than on a person's race. While such questions seem elementary to some, particularly social scientists who study race, inequality, and civil rights policies, these questions reverberate throughout modern debates over the continued implementation and even consideration of affirmative action in higher education.

As discussed in the last chapter, affirmative action was and continues to be a regulatory mechanism that formalizes rules against policies and social institutions that exclude and discriminate against qualified minorities. Qualified is the crucial component of this idea. Affirmative action was never meant to redistribute valued resources away from qualified individuals to unqualified minorities, which is a common misconception. Rather, affirmative action was intended to provide qualified individuals who have historically been excluded from participation due to systematic issues with opportunities not afforded to them based on their race. In this vein, affirmative action policies attempt to increase the chances of social and economic mobility for disenfranchised minorities who may struggle given no affirmative action policy.

This chapter provides insights into the state of racial inequality in the US today. In terms of income, wealth, jobs, and education, does race continue to predict life outcomes? If it does not, there really is no need to consider race when making policy at national and state levels or in higher education. The discussions over affirmative action and how it should be implemented would be moot. This chapter also provides an examination of the impact of education in general and in particular, for minorities. We look at how the elimination of affirmative action at state level has affected the enrollment of minorities in higher education. We then provide a look at the history of affirmative action related to higher education in the courts. As such, we offer a detailed synopsis of past court cases that have set the stage for how affirmative action is viewed and used in higher education today.