Introduction

Recruiting a diverse talent of workers must be a major priority for American businesses. Corporate recruiters and campus career services professionals share the belief that college and university campuses represent the most important source of diverse talent. Recent court decisions, the United States Justice Department, policy actions by the US Department of Education as well as threats and actions from conservative groups, have undermined race conscious policies that are the hallmark of affirmative action.

Brief History

For years, the anti-discrimination policy known as affirmative action has been a part of American social policy in reducing poverty and discrimination among minorities and women. Cornel West, of Princeton University describes in Race Matters the progressive nature of policies such as affirmative action.

Education and Diversity

As early as Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court acknowledged the importance of education to our democratic society. Justice Powell made a similar point in Bakke, emphasizing,” the nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to the ideas and mores of students as diverse as this Nation of many peoples.”

Patricia Gurin, Professor, Emerita of Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan conducted an empirical analyses to measure the educational benefits of diversity and provided expert testimony in the Gratz vs. Bollinger, et. al. 539 US 244 (2003) and Grutter vs. Bollinger, et. al. 539 US 306 (2003) cases on behalf of the University of Michigan.

Her studies show that classrooms that are racially and ethnically diverse have far-ranging and significant benefits for all students, non-minorities and minorities alike. They learn to think in deeper and more complex ways, and are better prepared to become active participants in a pluralistic, democratic society. The Gurin analysis went a long way in preserving race as a factor for consideration in higher education admissions.

However, opponents of affirmative action have not been satisfied with the decisions rendered by the Supreme Court since Bakke, notwithstanding Justice O’ Connor’s expression in Grutter, of the terminality of the need for affirmative action policies within the next 25 years. By the 90’s states had mounted campaigns through public referendums such as Proposition 209 enacted in California and Initiative 200 enacted in Washington State. These state actions ban the use of race as a factor for college admissions and public contracting and employment.

It didn’t take long for the anticipated results of the public referendums to become apparent. The number of black students at both Berkeley and U.C.L.A. plummeted, and at U.C.L.A. the declines have continued. In 1997, the freshman class included 221 black students; last fall it had only 100.

Similarly, Richard L. McCormick, President of the University of Washington in addressing the Association of American Colleges and Universities about diversity and affirmative action stated that:

Workplace

Corporate leaders have reinforced the need for diversity by confirming that the business community is looking to colleges and universities to produce highly valued cognitive and social skills in the educated workforce: ability to work effectively in groups with colleagues of diverse backgrounds, openness to new ideas and perspectives, and empathy with other workers' perspectives.

Carol Knowles Myers, in a discussion paper, uses the California Proposition 209 situation to measure the effects of the elimination of race in employment opportunities. Between 1995-1999 the rate of employment of minorities in California, relative to the rest of the country, where affirmative action programs were not removed, fell by 2.8. This result suggests that Proposition 209 removed significant numbers of women and minorities from the labor force.

Conclusion and Assessment Section

The Civil Rights movement changed the moral imperative of the United States. Today opponents of affirmative action allege reverse discrimination and seek the elimination of race conscious considerations in educational and work opportunities. The relatively recent experiences in the states signal some disturbing warnings of future barriers to progressive social engineering.

Speaking to the 89th Meeting of the American Council on Education, Freeman A. Hrabowski, III President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County stated:

We cannot afford to waste the talented assets of any of our citizens, nor can we afford the social unrest and divisiveness that flow from unequal opportunity. This is a present and future imperative, as the U.S. minority population grows and globalization puts an increasing premium on our ability to understand and interact with other cultures.

BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, Mr. Hollar-Gregory, is a graduate of Rutgers Law School and offers over 30 years of combined experience in law, health care, business and academia. He is presently an Assistant Professor, Director of Paralegal Studies in the Managerial Studies Department of LaGuardia Community College an affiliate of City University of New York, where he is active in teaching, professional development and community service. Click here to reach Mr. Hollar-Gregory.