Research Catalog

Title

Affirmative action and racial preference : a debate / Carl Cohen, James P. Sterba.

Author

Cohen, Carl, 1931-

Publication

New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Sterba, James P.

Description

xv, 394 p.; 21 cm.

Summary

"Carl Cohen, a key figure in the University of Michigan Supreme Court cases, argues that racial preferences are morally wrong - forbidden by the 14[superscript th] Amendment to the Constitution, and explicitly banned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He also contends that such preferences harm society in general, damage the universities that use them, and undermine the minorities they were intended to serve. James P. Sterba counters that, far from being banned by the Constitution and the civil rights acts, affirmative action is actually mandated by law in the pursuit of a society that is racially and sexually just. The same Congress that adopted the 14[superscript th] Amendment, he notes, passed race-specific laws that extended aid to blacks. Indeed, there are various kinds of affirmative action - compensation for past discrimination, remedial measures aimed at current discrimination, the guarantee of diversity - and Sterba reviews the Supreme Court cases that build a constitutional foundation for each. Affirmative action, he argues, favors qualified minority candidates, not unqualified ones. Both authors offer concluding comment on the University of Michigan cases decided by the Supreme Court in June 2003"--Jacket.

Series Statement

Point/counterpoint series

Uniform Title

Point/counterpoint series (Oxford, England)

Subject

Affirmative action programs > Law and legislation > United States

Genre/Form

Electronic books.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 365-370) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Section One: Why race preference is wrong and bad / Carl Cohen -- Prologue: Wrongness and badness -- pt. 1. Equality and race preference -- 1. Equality as a moral ideal -- 2. Affirmative action -- 3. Race preference: the transformation of affirmative action -- pt. 2. Why race preference is wrong -- 4. Race preference is morally wrong -- 5. Race preference is against the law -- 6. Race preference violates the Constitution -- pt. 3. Why race preference is bad -- 7. Race preference is bad for the minorities preferred -- 8. Race preference is bad for the universities that give preference -- 9. Race preference is bad for society as a whole -- Epilogue: The future of race preference -- Section Two: Defending affirmative action, defending preferences / James P. Sterba -- 1. A legal history of affirmative action in the United States -- 2. A definition of affirmative action -- 3. A defense of outreach affirmative action -- 4. A defense of remedial affirmative action -- 5. Remedial affirmative action and the U.S. Supreme Court -- 6. Racial discrimination v. sexual discrimination -- 7. A better standard of proof for remedial affirmative action -- 8. A defense of diversity affirmative action -- 9. Objections to affirmative action -- 10. Affirmative action outside the United States -- Conclusion -- Section Three: Reply to James P. Sterba / Carl Cohen -- Section Four: Reply to Carl Cohen / James P. Sterba -- Section Five: Comments on the Supreme Court decision / Carl Cohen and James P. Sterba.

ISBN

• 0195148940 (cloth)
• 0195148959 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^2003051868

OCLC

• 52387902
• SCSB-10417854

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library