A New Angle Of Attack

Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark affirmative action ruling, conservative groups are regrouping and rearming.

By Jamal Watson

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that colleges and universities could use race as one of several factors in determining admissions criteria, it seemed to some supporters of race-conscious policies that affirmative action — arguably, the most ambitious attempt to rectify the nation’s long history of racial discrimination — had survived legally, at least for the time being. For years, some thought that with the rise of a more conservative Supreme Court, the social program that came into existence in the 1970s and was practiced in some form by most colleges and universities, would quickly disappear.

College administrators who were struggling to find ways to recruit minorities — particularly African-Americans — breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling a little more confident that they would not have to completely abandon the affirmative action programs that had been implemented decades before. However, there were college and program administrators that considered the court’s ruling a little ambiguous, and they proceeded with caution.

Today, many of these same college administrators are facing new threats of lawsuits by conservative groups and White students. This time, the controversy centers on scholarships and social and academic programs that cater exclusively to minority students. Surprisingly, some say, the fierce opposition to such scholarships and programs has come not only from the private sector, but from the federal government.

Additionally, in Michigan, a new effort is underway to eliminate all affirmative action programs, a measure that is being vigorously opposed by the NAACP. Modeled after California’s Proposition 209, Michigan’s Proposal 2, known as the American Civil Rights Initiative, if passed by voters next month, would ban discrimination and affirmative action programs that give consideration to individuals or groups based on race, gender, national origin, etc. All public and state institutions would be affected, including public colleges and universities and even K-12 school districts.