Minorities & Higher
Education
in the United States:
Legal Cases & Statistics
Orlando Taylor, Ph. D.
Vice Provost for Research & Dean of the
Graduate School
Howard University
Statistics: 2000-2003
Undergraduate Enrollment
16,000,000
14,000,000
12,000,000
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000
4,000,000
2,000,000
0
Total
2003 2002
2001
Hispanics
Hispanics
Students
Blacks
Total
2000
Year
2003
2002
2001
2000
Hispanics
1,480,534
1,430,991
1,355,264
1,270,254
Blacks
1,743,859
1,671,478
1,579,292
1,484,276
Total
14,473,884
14,257,077
13,715,610
13,155,393
As of Fall 2003
„
„
„
14.4 million undergraduate students
in the United States.
1.9 million black students (12%).
1.6 million hispanic students (10.2%).
U.S. Legal Precedents
Abolishing Segregation in
Higher Education
Missouri ex rel Gaines v.
Canada (1938)
„
„
“The basic consideration is not as to what sort of
opportunities, other States provide, or whether
they are as good as those in Missouri, but as to
what opportunities Missouri itself furnishes to
white students and denies to negroes solely upon
the ground of color.”
“It was as an individual that he was entitled to the
equal protection of the laws, and the State was
bound to furnish him within its borders facilities
for legal education substantially equal to those
which the State there afforded for persons of the
white race, whether or not other negroes sought
the same opportunity.”
Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
„
„
This Court has stated unanimously that "The
State must provide (legal education) for
(petitioner) in conformity with the equal
protection clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment and provide it as soon as it does
for applicants of any other group."
The law school, the proving ground for legal
learning and practice, cannot be effective in
isolation from the individuals and institutions
with which the law interacts. Few students
and no one who has practiced law would
choose to study in an academic vacuum,
removed from the interplay of ideas and the
exchange of views with which the law is
concerned.
Sweatt v. Painter (1950) cont’d
„
The law school to which Texas is willing to
admit petitioner excludes from its student body
members of the racial groups which number
85% of the population of the State and include
most of the lawyers, witnesses, jurors, judges
and other officials with whom petitioner will
inevitably be dealing when he becomes a
member of the Texas Bar. With such a
substantial and significant segment of society
excluded, we cannot conclude that the
education offered petitioner is substantially
equal to that which he would receive if
admitted to the University of Texas Law School.
McLaurin v. Oklahoma
(1950)
„
“… the State, in administering the facilities
it affords for professional and graduate
study, sets McLaurin apart from the other
students. The result is that appellant is
handicapped in his pursuit of effective
graduate instruction. Such restrictions
impair and inhibit his ability to study, to
engage in discussions and exchange views
with other students, and, in general, to
learn his profession.”
Challenges
to
Affirmative Action Policies
Bakke v. Regents of the
University of California (1978)
„
The state has a legitimate interest in
ameliorating or eliminating the effects
of identified discrimination. But, not
to the harm of others. The purpose of
helping certain groups does not justify
disadvantaging another group.
Gratz v. Bolinger (2003)
„
“We find that the University’s policy,
which automatically distributes 20
points, or one-fifth of the points needed
to guarantee admission, to every single
“underrepresented minority” applicant
solely because of race, is not narrowly
tailored to achieve the interest in
educational diversity that respondents
claim justifies their program.”
Grutter vs. Bolinger (2003)
„
„
„
“…numerous studies show that student body
diversity promotes learning outcomes, and
better prepares students for an increasingly
diverse workforce and society, and better
prepares them as professionals.”
“…major American businesses have made clear
that the skills needed in today’s increasingly
global marketplace can only be developed
through exposure to widely diverse people,
cultures, ideas, and viewpoints.”
“The Law School’s current admissions program
considers race as one factor among many, in an
effort to assemble a student body that is diverse
in ways broader than race. “