Understanding Affirmative Action: Politics, Discrimination, and the Search for Justice

199 Pages·2006·1.25 MB·English

by  J. Edward Kellough

Understanding Affirmative Action

Understanding

Affirmative Action
Politics, Discrimination, and
the Search for Justice
J. Edward Kellough
Washington, D.C.
Georgetown University Press
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Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kellough, J. Edward
Understanding affirmative action : politics, discrimination, and the search for justice /
J. Edward Kellough.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-: ---- (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-: --- (pbk. : alk. paper)
. Affirmative action programs—Law and legislation—United States.
. Affirmative action programs in education—Law and legislation—United States.
. Affirmative action programs—United States. I. Title.
KF ..K 
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First printing
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
one Affirmative Action: The Concept and the Controversy 
two Early Efforts Focusing on Equality of Opportunity 
three Affirmative Action and Preferential Selection 
four Assessing the Argument: A Review of the Case
For and Against Affirmative Action 
five The Supreme Court and Affirmative Action:
An Examination of the Early Development of Statutory
and Constitutional Constraints 
six Cases from  to : Challenges, Uncertainty, and
the Survival of Affirmative Action 
seven Evidence on the Effectiveness of Affirmative Action 
eight Affirmative Action in the Twenty-first Century 
Notes 
Index 

Acknowledgments
This work has been informed by the scholarship of numerous individu-
als whose research is cited here. I am deeply grateful to those scholars for
their contributions to our knowledge of affirmative action and its history.
I am also grateful to the many students and colleagues whose discussions
with me on the topics covered in this book have been extremely valuable.
The manuscript was improved as a result of those conversations. I want to
thank also the colleagues who read all or part of the manuscript while it
was in preparation and offered suggestions for its improvement. They gave
generously of their time and are much appreciated. Of course, all errors of
fact or judgment that remain are entirely my own. Finally, I want to thank
my wife, Vicki, and my sons, John and Eric, for their patience and encour-
agement as I finished this project. Their love and support have enriched my
life beyond words. This book is dedicated to them.