Outlining what he calls “affirmative consideration,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval Patrick is calling for a new approach to undo past discrimination.
In remarks to a Black law school alumni debate on affirmative action, the Clinton administration’s chief civil rights advocate argued for the need to defuse the politically-charged atmosphere surrounding affirmative action.
Patrick outlined his approach without spelling out the details of how it would be implemented.
“This is what I call `affirmative consideration,’ where race, ethnicity or gender is a factor, but is not necessarily dispositive,” Patrick said in a keynote address to a recent Boston College Law School Black Alumni gathering.
“This kind of affirmative action guarantees nothing. It supports merit. It emphasizes qualifications. It embodies flexibility and the aspirations of an integrated workplace or school,” he said.
“This kind of affirmative action is what the early proponents, Republican and Democrats, have supported,” he said.
His remarks followed a morning of rapid exchanges over affirmative action before a gathering of the law school’s Black alumni.
