A readable history that puts the current debates in historical context

This guide to the literature presents 451 descriptions of books, reports and articles dealing with all aspects of affirmative action including: Race relations; Economic aspects; Reverse discrimination; Preferences; Affirmative Action programs: Public opinion; Court decisions; Education and many more. Complete author and subject indexes are provided.

Despite the tepid reception of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978, the Supreme Court has thrice affirmed its holding: universities can use race as an admissions factor to achieve the goal of a diverse student body. This book examines the process of rhetorical invention followed by Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., his colleagues, and other interlocutors as they sifted through arguments surrounding affirmative action policies to settle on diversity as affirmative action’s best constitutional justification. Here M. Kelly Carr explores the goals, constraints, and argumentative tools of the various parties as they utilized the linguistic resources available to them, including arguments about race, merit, and the role of the public university in civic life. Using public address texts, legal briefs, memoranda, and draft opinions, Carr looks at how public arguments informed the amicus briefs, chambers memos, and legal principles before concluding that Powell’s pragmatic decision making fused the principle of individualism with an appreciation of multiculturalism to accommodate his colleagues’ differing opinions. She argues that Bakke is thus a legal and rhetorical milestone that helped to shift the justificatory grounds of race-conscious policy away from a recognition of historical discrimination and its call for reparative equality, and toward an appreciation of racial diversity.

Across the country our universities and colleges continue to be beset by incidences of racial turmoil on campus. The first contemporary serious collection of articles on this topic, this book goes beyond rhetoric to examine the causes and impact of campus racial tensions both by examining some key university case studies and by investigating some of the underlying elements of the crisis. In order to raise the consciousness of the entire university community to the import of these concerns the authors focus both on current research and on the flashpoints of controversy. The first part of the volume deals with broader issues relating to the academic community and to the curriculum. The overarching issues including debates about affirmative action, and admissions policies are considered as well as the difficulties of recruitment, retention, and campus life for Afro-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American faculty. Studies of some of the campuses which have recently experienced a heightening of racial tension including Columbia, Stanford, Arizona State, and Cornell are provided.

Racism in Contemporary America is the largest and most up-to-date bibliography available on current research on the topic. It has been compiled by award-winning researcher Meyer Weinberg, who has spent many years writing and researching contemporary and historical aspects of racism. Almost 15,000 entries to books, articles, dissertations, and other materials are organized under 87 subject-headings. In addition, there are author and ethnic-racial indexes. Several aids help the researcher access the materials included. In addition to the subject organization of the bibliography, entries are annotated whenever the title is not self-explanatory. An author index is followed by an ethnic-racial index which makes it convenient to follow a single group through any or all the subject headings. This is a source book for the serious study of America's most enduring problem; as such it will be of value to students and researchers at all levels and in most disciplines.