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.“
• 1962 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 - Pro
American 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 - Con
American 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
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/4043938367_1a1f6e9736_o.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.racialicious.com/2009
/10/27/anti-asian-bias-in-college-admissions-part-1-%25E2%2580%2593-an-impropercomparison/&usg=__yCXB
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-IdeologySupport-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
High School GPA (4.0 Scale)
4.5
4
3.5
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Native American
American Eskimo
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
SAT Score (1600 Scale)
1400
1600
1800
AAM University Decisions
High School GPA (4.0 Scale)
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
Accepted
Denied
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
SAT Score (1600 Scale)
1200
1400
1600
1800
AAM University Decisions by Race
4.5
High School GPA (4.0 Scale)
4
3.5
Accepted
Denied
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian
Native American
American Eskimo
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
SAT Score (1600 Scale)
1400
1600
1800