Affirmative Action

1. Affirmative Action By: Maggie Dwyer, Allison Henry, and Ann Novelli

3. 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

4. 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.”

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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."

10. 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

11. More Recent News • States which have banned affirmative action: • 1997 California • 1998 Washington • 2006 Michigan • 2008 Nebraska

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Evidence/Statistics Stormfront.org/truth-at-harvard

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

20. 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”)

21. 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>

22. Affirmative Action Opinion(race) <http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>

23. Affirmative Action Opinion (race &political ideology) <http://www.gallup.com/poll/18091/Race-Ideology-Support-Affirmative-Action.aspx>

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

25. 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.

26. Political Parties • Republican Party: • Opposes affirmative action because they think it too often turns into quotas and creates preferential treatment.

27. Political Parties • Constitution Party: • Opposes affirmative action because the Constitution grants the Federal Government no authority over Education

28. 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>.

29. AAM University Quick Stats: SAT (1600)= 1220-1280 GPA (4.0)= 3.7 Total Applicants: 22 Acceptance Rate: 59%