Affirmative Action

“Positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in area of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded.”

Source: Fullinwider, 2005.

http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2005/entries/affirmative-action/

Affirmative Action Timeline • 1961 - President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925 that mandates federally funded projects to take “affirmative practices to ensure employment practices are free of bias.”

• 1964 - President Johnson prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin through the Civil Rights Act.

• 1965 - President Johnson amends EO 11246 to address discrimination based on gender.

Affirmative Action Timeline • 1969 - President Nixon via Philadelphia Order discourages quotas, but requires contractors to demonstrate affirmative action to increase minority employment.

• 1978 - The University of California v. Bakke landmark Supreme Court case on reverse discrimination.

• 1980s & early 1990s - various court cases regarding affirmative action and hiring/termination practices in business and education.

Affirmative Action Timeline • 1995 - President Clinton supports policy of “mend it, don’t end it.”

• 1996 - Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School, the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals suspended the university’s affirmative action admissions program and Bakke ruled invalid.

• 1997 - Proposition 209 (CA) banned all forms of affirmative action in California (no AA and no discrimination).

Affirmative Action Timeline • 1998 - Washington state passed Initiative 200 (similar to Proposition 209 in California).

• 2000 - Florida bans race as factor in college admissions; University of Michigan’s undergrad AA policy upheld by federal judge.

• 2001 - Different judge’s opposite ruling in University of Michigan’s case (decision reversed in 2002 on appeal).

• 2003 - Supreme Court upholds University of Michigan’s AA because, “it furthers a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body.”