Color-Blind Theories and Color-Conscious Remedies

Many people decry affirmative attempts to remedy the continued social and economic deprivation of blacks and other minority group members. They pay tribute to the principle of equality and insist that their sole objective is to ensure that everyone is treated equally without regard to race. However,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The University of Chicago law review 1980-01, Vol.47 (2), p.213-245
Main Author: Wright, J. Skelly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affirmative action
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS
African Americans
BELIEF SYSTEMS
Civil rights
Discrimination
Employment
Employment discrimination
Equal rights
Equality
EQUALITY OR INEQUALITY
Gender discrimination
HEAVILY EMPHASIZES METHODOLOGY OR TECHNIQUE OF STUDY
Hiring
Minority & ethnic groups
Minority groups
POLITICAL THEORY
PUBLIC POLICY
Racial discrimination
Seniority
Supreme Court decisions
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Summary:Many people decry affirmative attempts to remedy the continued social and economic deprivation of blacks and other minority group members. They pay tribute to the principle of equality and insist that their sole objective is to ensure that everyone is treated equally without regard to race. However, this version of equality, which permits the continuation of grave disparities in the opportunities and advantages available to persons of different races, ignores the context in which the problem of inequality has persisted and ultimately endangers our democratic institutions.Affirmative action programs are a proper means of eradicating the gross disparities in opportunity between whites and nonwhites. The problem now is not to justify remedies for past oppression, but rather to ensure that the remedies chosen will create a nation of genuine equality in the future. It is time to admit that there can be no such thing as a color-blind approach to achieving racial equality.
ISSN:0041-9494
1939-859X
DOI:10.2307/1599359