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Racial Profiling
Drachman, Edward R., Robert Langran, and Alan Shank. "Case 4: Race-Based Affirmative
Action in College Admissions: Keep It, Mend It, or End It?" You Decide: Controversial cases in American Politics. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2008. 47-67. Print.
"Colleges have given three main justifications for affirmative action policies that would aid certain minority applicants, especially African-Americans and Hispanics: to compensate for long-standing practices of discrimination; to achieve diversity of the student body; and to overcome 'underrepresentation' of historically disadvantaged groups" (47).
"In California in 1995, the Board of Regents decided to stop race-based admissions, and the next year voters passed Proposition 209, which ended racial preferences in all public-sector state programs including college admissions; and laws were soon enacted in Washington State and Florida prohibiting state universities from using race-based admissions policies" (48).
"Critics of racial preference in college admission argue that:
The U.S. Constitution, especially the Fourth Amendment, protects individuals, not groups
The Constitution calls for equal protection under the law, and so should our laws
College admissions should be based mainly on merit as determined by grade point average and standardized test scores
Affirmative action penalizes applicants who themselves were never guilty of discrimination
Colleges at various times discriminated against unprotected groups such as Jews and Asians
By opening college doors wider to historically disadvantaged...
"Affirmative Action in College Admissions." The Nature of Supreme
Court Power. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. 113-18. Print.
"In 1973, Allan Bakke applied to the University of California, Davis, Medical School. At the time, the school used a dual admissions process, in which regular applicants were considered separately from those who identified themselves as 'economically and/or educationally disadvantaged' applicants or members of a 'minority group.' Regular applicants were required to have a minimum undergraduate grade point average of 2.5 or higher, but applicants in the special admission program were not. These special applicants were not ranked against candidates in the general admissions process and instead competed among themselves for sixteen of the one hundred seats in the entering class. During a four-year period, no whites were admitted through the special admissions program, although many applied" (113).
"The Davis program was constitutionally problematic because it used a quota system in which a 'specified percentage…
"The Supreme Court under its new chief justice decided the Meredith v. Jefferson County case, involving the Louisville, Kentucky, public schools, and a companion case involving the public schools of Seattle, Washington, it outlawed the use of race or diversity for any purpose -- benign as well as punitive, inclusionary, or exclusionary. The court found there is no compelling state interest that would justify acknowledgement of group characteristics in public education or the value of diversity" (xv-xvi).
Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education (1986): "Required that the use of racial classification support a compelling interest of state and be narrowly tailored to satisfy that particular interest. The court's ruling in this case also stated that historic social discrimination was not by itself a compelling reason for an affirmative action policy, and that a public employer should only enact such a policy if it is indeed needed" (7).
1994 -- 5th Circuit of the U.S. District Court of Appeals "held that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment does not permit the University of Texas to establish admissions policies that give preferential treatment to one race over another" (7).
367) According to Sander, none of these questions have been asked effectively and therefore we as a nation continue to believe that affirmative action is a necessary social development for the creation of a more representative society, where disenfranchisement must be answered by active plans, policies and laws. Few of us would enthusiastically support preferential admission policies if we did not believe they played a powerful, irreplaceable role in giving nonwhites
This is a particular problem at the nation's colleges and universities. This has become so much of an issue that law suits and verdicts have been handed down in some states. One of the most famous cases to date involved the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law school policies. These cases are Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger. In 1997, Jennifer Gratz, a white woman, sued the University of
Affirmative action policies grew out of a need to address the historic discrimination against minorities and women. Since its inception, affirmative action has helped open the door for many minorities seeking gainful employment and higher education. However, the same policies have also spawned charges of reverse discrimination against others and, paradoxically, of harming the very people they were intended to help. This paper looks at whether affirmative action policies remain relevant
Affirmative Action Lit Review Affirmative Action Review of Literature Has Affirmative Action outlived its use in today's society? And if so should the program change or simply come to an end? The issue of Affirmative Action (AA) is one that is currently being hotly debated by both policy makers and the public. Like racism itself there are many opinions all of which are run the gamut between logical and illogical and constructive and
Affirmative Action: Why We Need to Reform It It is widely believed that the American society is a "melting pot" where members of racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities eventually mold into the mainstream, becoming full-fledged citizens of the country. The reality, however, is much more complicated. While it is true that America offers many opportunities to all its citizens, there is a history of discrimination against minority groups that affects
Affirmative Action - Should Race be a Factor in Deciding College Admissions? Should race be a deciding factor for college admissions? The debate is one that is hotly contested among students and administrators alike. Many feel that in a tight job market acquiring a college educational is an essential prerequisite for career advancement (Worsnop, 1996) thus competition for admission to many of the nation's best universities is increasing. In addition tuition expenses