Table of Contents

Discussion #4: Affirmative Action

Video description: “Could Harvard Discrimination Case Change College Admissions Nationwide?” by PBS Newshour (2018)

Introduction:

Affirmative action is a set of practices and policies (quotas, outreach programs, racial and gender preferences) designed in the 1960s to remedy the discriminatory racial practices of the past and give underrepresented groups (minorities, women) equal opportunities to jobs, housing, and education services. Advocates credit affirmative action for diversifying workplaces and college campuses but opponents protests the practice as counterproductive and reverse discrimination. Affirmative action faced legal challenges starting in 1978 in the Regents of University of California v. Bakke case when the Supreme Court ruled the use of quotas as unconstitutional. The ruling of the Bakke case have led to states including California challenging and eliminating policies and practices such as race-based preferences under affirmative action. Asian Americans are divided when it comes to affirmative action. Some sees affirmative action as necessary to reduce the education gap while others sees affirmative action as an impediment and exclusion for college admission. Currently, a group of Asian American students are suing Harvard for racial discriminating in the admission process and the case will make its way to the Supreme Court in 2020. So where do you stand on this topic of affirmative action?

Sources to Review:

Source #1: The Times Editorial Board. “Affirmative Action Helps Address the Unfair Advantage of White Male Students.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Originally published as “Who benefits from discriminatory college admissions policies? White males,” Los Angeles Times, 2 Aug. 2017.

Source #2: Slattery, Elizabeth, and Hope Steffensen. “How Affirmative Action at Colleges Hurts Minority Students.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Originally published as “How Affirmative Action at Colleges Hurts Minority Students,” The Daily Signal, 2 Dec. 2015.

Source #3: Nelson, Eboni. “Colleges need affirmative action – but it can be expanded.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, Originally published as “Colleges need affirmative action – but it can be expanded,” The Conversation, 21 Aug. 2017.

Source #4: Yang, Jeff. “Asian-Americans should be the friends, not the enemies, of affirmative action.” CNN Wire, 7 Aug. 2017. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints.

Source #5: Tucker, Carlson. “Affirmative Action, College, and Unintended Consequences.” Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News Network. Originally aired 18 April, 2018 on Fox News. (Links to an external site.)

Assignment Instructions:

Once you are done reviewing the sources, please write a topic reply (minimum of 400 words) discussing your answer to the following question:

• Should Asian Americans support or oppose affirmative action?

Please use only the sources above provided by the professor, no outsides sources needed.