The Affirmative Action Debate

Jacket Description/Back: The Affirmative Action Debate collects the leading voices on all sides of this crucial dialogue. A provocative range of politicians, researchers, legal experts, and businesspeople dispute the best way to fight discrimination. Their essays explore such questions as, How did affirmative-action policies come to be? Who benefits most from them, and who suffers? How do these programs work in hiring, contracting, college admissions, and other fields? What will recent Supreme Court rulings and legislative initiatives mean? And, most fundamentally, does any race-conscious remedy simply perpetuate discrimination? Recognizing affirmative action as more than a black-and-white issue, this book includes the voices of women, Latinos, and Asian-Americans who are also affected but often ignored. A sourcebook of solid facts and surprising arguments. Biographical Note: George E. Curry is the editor-in-chief of "Emerge "magazine, based in Washington, D. C. He is a regular panelist on "Lead Story," the BET network's news-analysis program, and has been New York bureau chief and Washington correspondent for the "Chicago Tribune."Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-342) and index. Publisher Marketing: Politicians, researchers, legal experts, and business people here dispute the best way to fight discrimination. Their essays explore such questions as: how did affirmative-action policies come to be?; who benefits most from them, and who suffers?; how do these programs work in hiring, contracting, college admissions, and other fields?; what will recent Supreme Court rulings and legislative initiatives mean?; and, most fundamentally, does any race-conscious remedy simply perpetuate discrimination? Recognizing affirmative action as more than a black-and-white issue, this book includes the voices of women, Latinos, and Asian-Americans who are also affected but often ignored.

Contributor Bio:  West, Cornel Cornel West is Class of 1943 University Professor in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. He is considered one of America's most provocative public individuals and has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist church, progressive politics, and jazz. The "New York Times" has praised his "ferocious moral vision."