More than 40 years after the first federal and state affirmative action laws were put in place, some are questioning whether they are still needed or should be modified.
Affirmative action became the center of a national debate last week when the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging Michigan’s Proposal 2, which was passed in 2006 and prohibits colleges and universities from using race in consideration when admitting students.
Those arguments could have a national impact, since eight states already ban the use of race in admissions policies.
Kevin Brown, a professor of law at Indiana University, noted that the case is not so much about affirmative action as it is about the right of states to create, modify or eliminate affirmative action laws.
“It’s about, what kinds of ability do citizens have to restructure the political issue,” Brown said.
Affirmative action, often described as a product of the civil rights movement, is generally defined as any law designed to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and employment.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy became the first to use the term “affirmative action” in an executive order that established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order that required government contractors to use affirmative action policies in hiring to increase the number of minority employees.
Over the years, states and cities adopted their own affirmative action policies, with colleges and universities also adopting them to increase the enrollment rates for African-American and Latino students.
Politically, however, affirmative action is a lightning rod, with supporters saying that it not only corrects past discrimination, but also increases opportunities and diversity at highly selective companies, colleges and universities for those who are underrepresented in certain institutions and areas of society.
They say affirmative action programs do have an impact, noting how African American enrollment at the University of Michigan fell by 33 percent after race based admissions were prohibited by Proposal 2, even while overall enrollment increased by 10 percent.
Opponents argue that it discriminates against whites and certain other groups.
Brown, who benefited from affirmative action as a student at Yale University, said the election of Barack Obama as president shows America is becoming more tolerant. However, he believes affirmative action is still necessary.
“I did not believe America would elect a Black president in my lifetime,” Brown said. “However, underneath the veneer there is this separate story that the descendants of slaves are falling farther and farther to the bottom in a way that no one would recognize. The group most left behind is the group most affected by our history of racial discrimination.”
Indiana University is among the higher learning institutions in the state that have an official affirmative action office charged with increasing diversity and ensuring equal opportunity for applicants and students.
“Limited race-conscious admissions practices have proven to be an effective tool to extend vital educational opportunities to all students,” Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie said in a statement. “Providing opportunities for students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups is not only the right thing to do, but the perspectives and experiences that a diverse student body brings also represent a critical part of helping students be successful in the increasingly diverse and international 21st century.”
On the other hand, some African-Americans believe affirmative action is outdated and that it suggests to people outside the Black community that their qualifications are not strong enough to get a job or admitted to a college without the assistance of a law.
Shelby Emmit, a member of Project 21, an organization of conservative African-Americans, believes affirmative action holds minorities and women to a lower standard and does not allow them to succeed or fail on their own merits.
“If anything, diversity today should be based on ideas, thoughts and one’s ability to think differently than those around them,” she said. “It should not be based on checking a box that says they fit some social construct of race.”
Recent polls, including one conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal, show that Americans are evenly divided when asked if affirmative action programs are still needed.
In the poll, 45 percent of respondents said they believe affirmative action programs are still needed to counteract the effects of discrimination against minorities, while an equal 45 percent said the programs have gone too far and should be ended because they unfairly discriminate against whites or undersell the abilities of minorities.
Some supporters of affirmative action say it is still relevant, but must be modified to meet the country’s changing conditions.
Brown, for example, has conducted research suggesting that immigrant Blacks from the Caribbean and Africa are making up bigger percentages of the minorities getting preferences for elite colleges, and that more should be done to stop the decline in the number of traditional African-American students admitted.
Prominent Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates attracted national attention this week after suggesting that affirmative action is not needed for well-off African-Americans.
Describing himself and his family as “upper middle class” and his daughters as having lived “a privileged life,” Gates questioned whether they and those who grew up with the kind of opportunities they have need affirmative action policies for success.
“Do they really need to benefit from affirmative action?” Gates asked rhetorically. “Affirmative action was a class escalator when I went to Yale, and I think it still should be. So I want to get more poor Black people into the middle class and I want to get more poor white people in the middle class as well.”
