Explains the position of the American Dental Education Association regarding affirmative action, namely, that affirmative action represents the United States' longstanding principled and constitutional commitment to equal opportunity for all citizens. (EV)

Responds to nine common arguments against affirmative action, providing facts about each one. The arguments are that affirmative action is not needed; it is not working; it is not fair; it is not merit; it is reverse racism; it is group-think; it is quotas; it lowers self-esteem; and it provokes race consciousness. (SM)

Reviews two books: "Beyond Affirmative Action: Reframing the Context of Higher Education" (Robert A. Ibarra) and "Diversity Challenged: Evidence on the Impact of Affirmative Action" (Gary Orfield and Michael Kurlaender). Discusses what is known about affirmative action in higher education, what educators consider affirmative action's appropriate…

This article uses four data sets to assess changes in the relative weights of test- and performance-based merit criteria on college enrollment during the 1980s and 1990s and considers their significance for affirmative action. Our results support the "shifting meritocracy" hypothesis, revealed by selective postsecondary institutions'…

Affirmative action in higher education remains a controversial topic in the US today, as it is tied in directly with citizens' varying conceptions of the larger society, and the importance of racial and other differences (in particular, socioeconomic class) in individual experiences and outcomes. This essay examines different arguments for and…

This article shows that the opinions filed in the Bakke case reveal important differences among the Justices of the Supreme Court in their perceptions, reasoning, and conclusions about almost every issue raised. (Author/MC)

Those on both sides of the Bakke case have escalated the rhetoric and predictions of doom if the Supreme Court failed to support their particular view. Now that the Court has spoken, in a way that upholds the tradition of the American promise, both sides must come together to make that promise a reality. (Author/MC)

What the Court did in the Bakke case was to demonstrate that, like the society around it, it is deeply split on the issues presented and unable to formulate a clear approach to the affirmative redress of our heritage of racial discrimination. (Author/MC)

Examines the intersection of affirmative action with educational attainment based on meritorious achievement. Also highlights the confluence of affirmative action and educational mobility for graduating high school students. Seeks to frame conceptions of diversity from a historical perspective; address diversity in relation to educational, social,…

Describes W.E.B. DuBois' Talented Tenth concept in regard to race relations and role models for black youth, examining: controversies over affirmative action in higher education, opportunities for black officers in the U.S. armed forces, racial barriers to admission to military institutions, African Americans who became military officers, and…

In this chapter, the authors outline critical race theory (CRT) as an analytical framework that originated in schools of law to examine and challenge the continuing significance of race and racism in U.S. society. They then describe the CRT framework within the field of education. CRT scholarship offers an explanatory structure that accounts for…

Affirmative action policies have played a critical role in promoting equal opportunity for both Latino faculty and Latino students in higher education. Affirmative action, one of the social programs that evolved from the civil rights movement, was aimed at increasing opportunities employment and education for historically underrepresented groups…

Recent lawsuits and judgments brought against colleges and universities for enacting affirmative action policies are threatening to dismantle the core principles of the Bakke decision (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke) and undermine the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This paper discusses current issues and challenges that pertain to…

Shows why prior rulings of a key Supreme Court justice are not in conflict with a final ruling that race may be considered as one factor in admissions to higher education. Discusses the Supreme Court's decision to hear the cases on affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan, asserting that affirmative action in the university…

Describes the work of the Center for Individual Rights (CIR), a "public interest" law firm that has been highly successful in stamping out the use of affirmative action in the admissions process of some major universities. Summarizes CIR tactics to eliminate affirmative action. (SLD)