Racial and Ethnic politics – essay plans (2)
Has racial equality in the USA been achieved? – Can use for success/failure of
affirmative action
Education
• Yes:
o In 2011, only 14% of Latinos dropped out of high school, compared to 28% in
2000
o Between 1960 and 1995, the number of blacks that graduated from university has
risen from 5% to 15%
o Segregation is no longer an issue after Brown v. Topeka in 1954 and Charlotte v.
Mecklenburg
o Affirmative action has given students equal footing, and federally funded
schemes such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have increased
spending on education unilaterally, lifting many previously poor performing
schools
• No:
o 16% of blacks and 21% of Latinos without a high school education, compared
to just 6% of whites
o De facto racial segregation still exists, whereby majority-minority areas mean
areas are racially segregated, and thus so are schools in those areas
§ “While in theory there are no limits facing black children, children born into
economically disadvantaged communities have the odds stacked against
them” – Austin (2012)
o Black college graduates are about twice as likely to be unemployed as white
graduates
Workplace
• Yes:
o Affirmative action arguably has been a success
o There are no longer limitations on which jobs blacks can apply for, and the
social stigma attached to blacks in the workplace has been reduced
significantly
o The stereotype that blacks are incapable in the workplace has been shunned and
disproven, and equal opportunity exists
o “Today, black children know that there is no occupation that is off limits to them” –
Austin (2012)
• No:
o Arguably all the improvements are artificial and only down to proactive
affirmative action, rather than inherent equality, and it has not created a truly
equal workplace
o Arguably, lesser qualified individuals have been hired as a result of affirmative
action, and
o There has been reverse discrimination against whites, and arguably, affirmative
action has stigmatised blacks in the workplace – “When you deny someone who
has earned it and give it to someone who has not earned it, you created anger and
resentment” – Bernie Richter
o Proportion of blacks in the workforce fell by 7% to 67% between 1972 and 2006
o National unemployment is at around 8%, but around 14% for blacks and 40% for
16-19 year old blacks
Has racial equality in the USA been achieved? – Can use for success/failure of
affirmative action
Education
• Yes:
o In 2011, only 14% of Latinos dropped out of high school, compared to 28% in
2000
o Between 1960 and 1995, the number of blacks that graduated from university has
risen from 5% to 15%
o Segregation is no longer an issue after Brown v. Topeka in 1954 and Charlotte v.
Mecklenburg
o Affirmative action has given students equal footing, and federally funded
schemes such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have increased
spending on education unilaterally, lifting many previously poor performing
schools
• No:
o 16% of blacks and 21% of Latinos without a high school education, compared
to just 6% of whites
o De facto racial segregation still exists, whereby majority-minority areas mean
areas are racially segregated, and thus so are schools in those areas
§ “While in theory there are no limits facing black children, children born into
economically disadvantaged communities have the odds stacked against
them” – Austin (2012)
o Black college graduates are about twice as likely to be unemployed as white
graduates
Workplace
• Yes:
o Affirmative action arguably has been a success
o There are no longer limitations on which jobs blacks can apply for, and the
social stigma attached to blacks in the workplace has been reduced
significantly
o The stereotype that blacks are incapable in the workplace has been shunned and
disproven, and equal opportunity exists
o “Today, black children know that there is no occupation that is off limits to them” –
Austin (2012)
• No:
o Arguably all the improvements are artificial and only down to proactive
affirmative action, rather than inherent equality, and it has not created a truly
equal workplace
o Arguably, lesser qualified individuals have been hired as a result of affirmative
action, and
o There has been reverse discrimination against whites, and arguably, affirmative
action has stigmatised blacks in the workplace – “When you deny someone who
has earned it and give it to someone who has not earned it, you created anger and
resentment” – Bernie Richter
o Proportion of blacks in the workforce fell by 7% to 67% between 1972 and 2006
o National unemployment is at around 8%, but around 14% for blacks and 40% for
16-19 year old blacks
