By: Maggie Dwyer, Allison Henry, and Ann Novelli

What is Affirmative Action?

An active effort to improve the employment or economical opportunities of minority groups

Taking positive steps to increase the representation of woman and minorities in the areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded

Introduction

• Origins: Civil War Freedman’s Bureau

• 1935 term coined: National Labor Relations Act (**not race – union membership)

• JFK first used the term with regards to race– “affirmative action to ensure that the applicants are employed,

and that employees are treated during employment without regard to race, color, creed, or national origin.”

Introduction – Legislation

• Constitutional Amendments [Civil Rights]• Thirteenth Amendment (1965) – outlawed slavery• Fourteenth Amendment (1968) – equal protection

clause, defines citizens• Fifteenth Amendment (1870) – forbid racial

discrimination in access to voting• Nineteenth Amendment (1920) – women’s suffrage• Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) – 18 = voting age

Legislation cont’d

• 1896 Plessey vs. Ferguson – “separate but equal”

• 1941 Executive Order 8802 – outlawed segregation in defense-related industries

• 1953 Government Contract Compliance - "to act positively and affirmatively to implement the policy of nondiscrimination”

• 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education – overturned Plessey vs. Ferguson

Legislation cont’d

• 1961 Executive Order 10925 - "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.“

• 1964 Civil Rights Act –prohibited racial discrimination

• 1965 Voting Rights Act – prohibited racial discrimination in voting

More Recent Court Decisions

• 1978 University of CA vs. Bakke – ensured affirmative actions, but not at expense of majority

• 1996 Hopwood vs. TX – diversity not compelling reason for race-conscious decisions in admissions

• 1996 Piscataway vs. Taxman – diversity could not justify layoffs based on race

More Recent Court Decisions

• 1997 CA bans affirmative action

• 1998 Washington becomes 2nd state to ban affirmative action

• 2003 – Supreme Court ruled that race can be considered but not as overruling factor– Affirmative action furthers "a compelling

interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body."

More Recent Decisions

• 2006 Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 – will not redistrict just to integrate

• Debate over whether affirmative action should be considered in college admissions

More Recent News

• States which have banned affirmative action:– 1997 California– 1998 Washington – 2006 Michigan– 2008 Nebraska

Pros

• Minorities have opportunity to succeed• Good for society to have diversity• Skills & ideas are brought from other races,

religions, ethnicities, genders• Those admitted by affirmative action have

stronger work ethic• Helps close “achievement gap”• between whites & minorities

Cons

• “Reverse Discrimination”

• May struggle or be ill-equipped b/c not admitted based on own merit

• Condescending for minorities – need affirmative action to succeed?

• Spots taken from intelligent/hardworking

• Rift between those accepted by affirmative action and those accepted by merit

Interest Groups - ProAmerican Association for Affirmative Action

• Position:– An effort to open the doors of opportunities to qualified

individuals who are members of groups that have experienced long-standing discrimination

• Goals: – Foster effective affirmative action programs nationwide– Establish & maintain ethical standards for the profession– Liaison w/ government agencies involved w/ equal

opportunity compliance in employment & education– Sponsor research, education & training programs

Interest Groups - Pro

BAMN: Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary

• Principles: – believes affirmative action and integration-policies as a

fundamental attack on the democratic character of American society

– will employ whatever means necessary to oppose & defeat these attacks on the democratic aspirations & struggles of our people

– will consider supporting only those candidates & parties whose support for affirmative action & equality is explicit and unequivocal

Interest Groups - ConAmerican Civil Rights Institute

• Mission:– educate the American public about the problems with racial &

gender preferences in government programs– focus on public education, policy research & working with other

national orgs to build a coalition in support of equal treatment by our government.

– believe that civil rights are individual rights and that government policies should not advocate group rights over individual rights

• Arguments:– Diversity has no educational benefits– takes away opportunities from those who may deserve them

more– new forms of racism

Interest Groups - Con

Center for Equal Opportunity

• Mission:– US becoming more multiethnic and multiracial

imperative that national policies do not divide people by to skin color & national origin

– Colorblind society– Oppose admission, hiring, and contracting

policies that discriminate, sort, or prefer on the basis of race or ethnicity

Evidence/Statistics

Stormfront.org/truth-at-harvard

Evidence

College Acceptance Rates (2005)[30]

Overall Acceptance Rate Black Acceptance Rate % Difference

Harvard University 10.0% 16.7% + 67.0%

MIT 15.9% 31.6% + 98.7%

Brown 16.6% 26.3% + 58.4%

Penn 21.2% 30.1% + 42.0%

Georgetown 22.0% 30.7% + 39.5%

http://www.asianam.org/college_admission_officers.htm

Recent/Local Development

• Lower Merion Redistricting– 9 families of black students filed lawsuit b/c

forced to be bused to Harriton– Purpose of redistricting: to equalize

enrollment at 2 new high schools– Broke no law (“race was used as part of a

cornucopia of factors”)

Affirmative Action Opinion

*Depends on the wording of the question when asked (decreases with “racial preference”

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>

Affirmative Action Opinion(race)

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>

Affirmative Action Opinion (race &political ideology)

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>

Public Opinion

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1240/sotomayor-supreme-court-affirmative-action-minority-preferences

Political Parties• Democratic Party:

– Supports affirmative action because they think it creates equal opportunity for all Americans regardless sex, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, or national origin.

Political Parties

• Republican Party: – Opposes

affirmative action because they think it too often turns into quotas and creates preferential treatment.

Political Parties

• Constitution Party: – Opposes

affirmative action because the Constitution grants the Federal Government no authority over Education

Bibliography

• "Affirmative Action - Pros, Cons, The Origins Of, Legal Treatment Of, Political and Social Debates, the Future." Online 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5916/Affirmative-Action.html>.

• Sykes, Marquita. "The Origins of Affirmative Action." National Organization for Women (NOW). Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.now.org/nnt/08-95/affirmhs.html>.

• Jones, Jeffrey M. "Race, Ideology, and Support for Affirmative Action." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>.

• "About the American Association for Affirmative Action." Home - American Association for Affirmative Action. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.affirmativeaction.org/about.html>.

• "American Civil Rights Institute | About ACRI." American Civil Rights Institute | Welcome. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.acri.org/about.html>.

• "Constitution Party Platform." Constitution Party National Political Headquarters. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php>.

• "Issues | RNC: Republican National Committee | GOP." RNC: Republican National Committee | RNC: Republican National Committee | GOP. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.gop.com/index.php/page_content/issues>.

• "Mission Statement." Center for Equal Opportunity. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.ceousa.org/content/view/533/127/>.• "Principles of BAMN." BAMN - Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any

Means Necessary. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bamn.com/1/principles.asp>.• "What We Stand For: Education." Democrats.org. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.democrats.org/issues/education>.• "Affirmative Action-pros and Cons, the Origins Of, Legal Treatment Of, Political and Social Debates, the Future." Online 1911

Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5916/Affirmative-Action.html>.• Brunner, Borgna. "Affirmative Action Timeline." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Web.

17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmativetimeline1.html>.• Messerli, Joe. "Affirmative Action (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against)." BalancedPolitics.org. 12 Aug. 2010. Web. 18 Nov.

2010. <http://www.balancedpolitics.org/affirmative_action.htm>.

AAM University

Quick Stats:SAT (1600)= 1220-1280

GPA (4.0)= 3.7

Total Applicants:

22

Acceptance Rate:

59%

AAM University Applicant Pool

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