Category Archives: Affirmative Action

Smart People Saying Smart Things About The Abigail Fisher Affirmative Action Case

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Ampersand

Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v University of Texas (pdf link). Although a surprise decision is always possible, it appears likely that the conservative majority will use this case to ban race-based affirmative action in college … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Supreme Court Issues | 101 Comments

The Real Victim

Posted on May 1, 2009 by Jeff Fecke

Mark Halpern identifies the biggest concern about Souter’s replacement: Aw, poor white guys! We only make up seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices. Why, one of them’s a woman! And there’s even a black guy! What more do you … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Feminism, sexism, etc, Race, racism and related issues, Supreme Court Issues, The Obama Administration | 11 Comments

Race in The Workplace: The "50% Brother/Sister"

Posted on September 18, 2007 by Rachel S.

Editor’s Note: I’m posting this hastily, so it still needs a cold proofread. You may notice a few little changes after I cold proofread it tonight. Ok, it should be fixed. My partner and I were having a discussion the … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Race, racism and related issues | 20 Comments

Affirmative Action: How much does it cost whites?

Posted on December 6, 2006 by Ampersand

[This post was originally written and posted in January of 2003, but it got dropped from the database in some blogmove or other, so I’m reposting it now.] One of the benefits of affirmative action in college admissions, it seems … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Race, racism and related issues | 54 Comments

Affirmative Action Doesn't Increase Minority Drop-Out Rates. (Also, a Cato Institute report is less than honest – there's a shocker.)

Posted on November 26, 2006 by Ampersand

In the comments of an earlier post, Robert Hayes has been arguing that racial preferences in college admission are bad because they harm minority students through what Robert calls “the ratchet effect.” But “the ratchet effect,” as Robert describes it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Race, racism and related issues | 7 Comments

This Week In Politics

Posted on September 30, 2006 by Rachel S.

This has really been crazy week in politics. The American political system was in turmoil all week and, of course, the saga that leads up to the election played out like an episode of Dallas. Well, maybe not Dallas. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Elections and politics | 8 Comments

Anti Affirmative Action Cartoon On This Week's New Yorker

Posted on June 2, 2006 by Ampersand

Since it’s a magazine that’s pretty solidly liberal, and which usually avoids overt issue cartoons on its cover, I was pretty surprised by the current New Yorker cover, which seems to me to be a pretty blatantly anti-affirmative action piece. … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Cartooning & comics, Race, racism and related issues | 48 Comments

Race, Gender, and Affirmative Action in the Hiring Process

Posted on June 2, 2006 by Rachel S.

In a recent post about affirmative action in India we had a relatively good discussion going in the comments section, but what I realized is that most people don’t have a real understanding of what affirmative action is and how … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Economics and the like, Gender and the Economy, Race, racism and related issues | 19 Comments

The Meritocracy Myth: An Interview with Lani Guinier

Posted on March 28, 2006 by Ampersand

Dollars and Sense has a terrific interview with Lani Guinier (via Blackfeminism), questioning how the idea of “merit” has been applied in law school admissions. Here’s a sample, but it’s worth reading the whole thing. Relying on things like the … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Race, racism and related issues | 5 Comments

Covert Affirmative Action for Men in College Admissions

Posted on July 12, 2005 by Ampersand

It’s been a fairly open secret for years that some colleges give a preference to men in admissions, but as far as I know it’s never been shown in an empirical study before. From the Montreal Gazette: Men appear to … Continue reading →

Posted in Affirmative Action, Feminism, sexism, etc | 81 Comments