Beth Gottman Kelly Lynch Jill Malie Affirmative Action Beth Gottman Kelly Lynch Jill Malie

Introduction What is Affirmative Action? Definition: A set of policies that seeks to correct past discrimination through measures to ensure equal opportunity for everyone.

What is affirmative action’s intended purpose? It helps to eliminate discrimination against: Women Minorities Aged persons Gays & Lesbians Disabled Low-Income Religious Differences

How does this pertain to education? It helps mostly with higher education (university admissions) opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to the unfortunate and the oppressed.

History of Affirmative Action Where did it all start? 1954: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas called for mandatory desegregation of public schools in the United States

History Continued Brown prompted the equal opportunity ideals that would later materialize into affirmative action. Brown prompted the Civil Rights protests during the latter 1950s and through the 1960s.

Timeline of the Development of Affirmative Action March 1961- President John F. Kennedy issues Executive Order 10925, which states that hiring practices should not include racial bias. 1964- Civil Rights Act is passed that disallows discrimination in voting, education, employment, and public facilities.

Timeline Continued July 1964- President Lyndon Johnson issues Executive Order 11246, which involves employers taking “affirmative action” when hiring minorities. 1967- The above order is amended to include women.

Timeline Continued June 1978- University of California v. Bakke arises as one of the first “reverse discrimination” cases. The Supreme upheld the affirmative action intentions, but ruled quotas at the university unconstitutional.

Timeline Continued February 1987- United States v. Paradise which overturns the ban on quotas first determined in the Bakke case. July 1995- President Bill Clinton issues new guidelines for practices of affirmative action.

Timeline Continued March 1996- Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School suspended the affirmative action program at the university. This established that “educational diversity is not recognized as a compelling state interest in Texas.”

Timeline Continued November 1997- Proposition 209 is created in California that bans all forms of affirmative action practices. December 1998- Initiative 200 is enacted in Washington DC, which also bans affirmative action practices. December 2000- Supreme Court decides that race can be used in admission standards for universities.

As It Stands Today In June of 2003 the Supreme Court has ruled that race and ethnicity can be a contributing factor to university admissions, but it cannot be the deciding factor.

Pros of Affirmative Action Diversity in schools is highly valued as a quality learning environment Students at a disadvantage will have little trouble with entering universities It helps draw people into areas of study they might never consider Stereotypes will be broken down It helps compensate minorities for centuries of mistreatment

Cons of Affirmative Action It leads to reverse discrimination It lowers standards of accountability for students and employees to perform better Students admitted on the basis of affirmative action are often ill-equipped to handle school It is condescending to minorities to say they need help It demeans the minority spirit of success being defined as hard work and ability vs. that a person got to where they are in life because of affirmative action

Does affirmative action really work? Black students admitted to UC-Berkeley WITH affirmative action (1997) 598 Black students admitted to UC-Berkeley WITHOUT affirmative action (1998) 255

Does affirmative action really work? Hispanic students admitted to UC-Berkeley WITH affirmative action (1997) 1411 Hispanic students admitted to UC-Berkeley WITHOUT affirmative action (1998) 852

Wright State Statistics According to head of the affirmative action department: Juanita Wehrle-Einhorn, Ph.D. Students of color has increased from 8% in 1984 to 13% in 2004 Faculty members of color has increased from 9% in 1984 to 16% in 2004

Ongoing Debate Affirmative has always been a hotbed of debate and will likely continue to be. “Blacks have a 375 year history on this continent: 245 involving slavery, 100 involving legalized discrimination, and only 30 involving anything else.”- historian Roger Wilkins (1994) “As equality increases, so does the number of people struggling for predominance.”- Mason Cooley (1988)

Bibliography http://www.infoplease.com/spot/affirmativetimeline1.html http://www.balancedpolitics.org/affirmative_action.htm http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/students/his3464y/iyobe/higher7.htm http://www.wright.edu/admin/affirm/ http://aaup.org/issues/affirmativeaction/aalegal.htm http://www.bartleby.com/66/5/13605.html