Affirmative action in college admissions has been a polarizing policy since its inception, decried by some as unfairly biased and supported by others as a necessary corrective to institutionalized inequality. In recent years, the protected status of affirmative action has become uncertain, as legal challenges chip away at its foundations. This book looks through a sociological lens at both the history of affirmative action and its increasingly tenuous future. J. Scott Carter and Cameron D. Lippard first survey how and why so-called &;colorblind&; rhetoric was originally used to frame affirmative action and promote a political ideology. The authors then provide detailed examinations of a host of recent Supreme Court cases that have sought to threaten or undermine it. Carter and Lippard analyze why the arguments of these challengers have successfully influenced widespread changes in attitude toward affirmative action, concluding that the discourse and arguments over these policies are yet more unfortunate manifestations of the quest to preserve the racial status quo in the United States.
Recenzijas
"This is an essential reading for all who wish to understand the debate surrounding affirmative action and the more general state of race in the U.S. today." Mamadi Corra, East Carolina University "Carter and Lippard show a sophisticated structural understanding of white attitudes on race without losing sight of the significance of deliberate political action by determined opponents of affirmative action." Lee Cokorinos, Democracy Strategies
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List of Figures and Tables |
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vii | |
| Series Editor Preface |
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ix | |
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1 | (18) |
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2 Affirmative Action and Higher Education |
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19 | (22) |
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3 Race, the Affirmative Action Debate, Education, and Past Court Cases |
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41 | (26) |
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4 Who is Fighting the Fight? |
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67 | (48) |
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5 Case Study 1: The Gratz/Grutter Supreme Court Cases against the University of Michigan |
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115 | (40) |
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6 Case Study 2: The Fisher Supreme Court Cases against the University of Texas at Austin |
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155 | (34) |
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189 | (14) |
| References |
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203 | (12) |
| Index |
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215 | |
J. Scott Carter is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. His research interests encompass several areas, including race and politics, racial attitudes, racial inequality in education, and Southern and urban place.
Cameron D. Lippard is an Professor and Chair of Sociology at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. His primary research agenda examines the social integration of Latino immigrants into the American South, as well as examining how individuals and people use color-blind language to justify racist actions and policies within various American institutions.
