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9 The US: Racial (in)equality – the legal situation Reading: Affirmative action Read the following text about steps to end racial inequality in the United States. While reading, make a list of all the terms and expressions that refer to inequalities in society. Can we improve on affirmative action? 1  Fact file Many school districts in the US try to promote racial balance by taking race into account when deciding which schools students should attend. The Louisville and Seattle court cases were brought by parents whose children were not allowed to go to the school of their choice as a result of this policy. In the end the nine Supreme Court judges voted 5–4 against the specific plans of the school districts in Louisville and Seattle while at the same time affirming the principle of diversity in public education. F “You’re characterising each student by reason of the colour of his or her skin,” remarked Justice Anthony Kennedy, during the Supreme Court arguments over the legality of school-integration plans in Louisville, Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington. “And it seems to me that that should only be, if ever allowed, allowed as a last resort.” Kennedy is the court’s probable swing vote on this issue, and he has a clear track record on racial preferences: he doesn’t like them. “It appears Kennedy is going to stick with his long-held position that affirmative action is unconstitutional,” says Paul Gewirtz of Yale Law School. If so, the Roberts court is embarked upon a gradual, but inescapable, rollback of all racial preferences. As Gewirtz puts it, “This could be the most significant short-term impact of the Bush appointees on the Supreme Court.” Affirmative action was never a very elegant solution to the problem of racial injustice. In fact, Gewirtz remembers that the civil rights legend Justice Thurgood Marshall was opposed to making distinctions by race, and had his doubts about racial preferences. But Marshall overcame his doubts, and affirmative action became part of the fabric of American society. On the plus side, a generation of minority and women college graduates has entered the workforce, creating a significant black middle class and a more integrated society. But the price has been resentment, especially in the white working class, and some real inequities. Racial gerrymandering of legislative districts, for example, has created a distorted, extremist politics of racial identification, especially in the South. Even the most passionate advocates of affirmative action agree that it’s a temporary fix, that writing racial distinctions into law is corrosive and illogical in a society that takes racial equality for granted. Even the most passionate conservative advocates of “colour blindness” know that race prejudice still exists and needs to be rectified. So what do we do now? Here are three possible ways to ensure diversity and repair injustice: Change the definition. Make it poverty, not pigment. This is an imperfect solution. Yes, a dispro- portionate number of African Americans and Latinos are poor, but the majority of poor people are white – and more than a few are Asian. If race-based remedies are replaced by class-based remedies, the number of African Americans attending elite universities, for one thing, will fall. Tom Kane, a Harvard economist, told me, “You’d need an economic affirmative action programme six times the size of the current racial preferences to benefit an equivalent number of African Americans.” There’s another step that would reduce racial and economic injustice: eliminate “legacy” admissions to colleges. Legacies – that is, the children of alumni – represent a huge chunk of students in most fancy schools, about one of every seven students in the Ivy League, according to some estimates. A 1990 study by the Department of Education found that the average Harvard legacy was “significantly less qualified” than other students in all areas except athletic ability. If we’re going to end affirmative action for African Americans, we should end it for Affluent Americans. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 124 Ethnic and cultural diversity Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Ve lags öbv