"Congratulations! You Have Just Been Appointed Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court!" Thinking Critically about Equality and Affirmative Action

This chapter discusses alternate histories of the Civil War in relation to U.S. Equal Protection jurisprudence and race discrimination law. It shows how the racial counterfactual shapes what counts as discrimination in an important anti-affirmative action legal case, Ricci v. Destefano. In particular, it analyzes the prominent use of racial counterfactuals by the Supreme Court justices in order to organize the perception of race. It then surveys alternate histories of the U.S. Civil War and describes their logics of narrative explanation. Finally, it turns to Terry Bissons’ Fire on the Mountain and Steven Barnes’s Lion’s Blood as examples of a strategic use of the racial counterfactual in order to envision different understandings of racial freedom and equality.

Download Full-text

Case Study 2: The Fisher Supreme Court Cases against the University of Texas at Austin

The Death of Affirmative Action? ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781529201116.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 155-188

Author(s):

J. Scott Carter ◽

Cameron D. Lippard

Keyword(s):

Affirmative Action ◽

Supreme Court ◽

Court Cases ◽

University Of Texas ◽

Admissions Policies ◽

Continued Use ◽

Color Blind ◽

The University ◽

The U.S

This chapter looks at the most recent case to challenge affirmative action in college admissions policies in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fisher v. The University of Texas at Austin (2013 and 2016). Like chapter 5, the purpose of this chapter is to understand precisely what supporters and opponents are saying about the controversial policy. That is, how are they framing the debate surrounding affirmative action. However, this chapter looks at how framing may have changed over a decade later. We again focus on amicus briefs submitted by social authorities to the U.S. Supreme Court who had interests in the outcome of the cases. While we were interested in variation in types of frames used in these two cases (Fisher I and II) relative to the Gratz and Grutter cases, we mainly focused on authors continued use of both color-blind and group threat frames to state their positions. While some nuanced changes were observed from Gratz/Grutter to Fisher, our findings revealed a great deal of consistency from case to case and that the briefs continued to rely on color-blind and threat frames to characterize the policy. Particularly among opponents’ briefs, threat frames suggested that whites, in general, were losing in a country consumed by liberal agendas of diversification and entitlements only afforded to unqualified and ill-prepared non-whites.

Download Full-text

While Affirmative Action Hangs in the Balance: Speculating on Future Nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education ◽

10.2307/2999204 ◽

1998 ◽

pp. 18

Keyword(s):

Affirmative Action ◽

Supreme Court ◽

The U.S

Download Full-text

Perspectives on Affirmative Action in Academic Dental Institutions: The U.S. Supreme Court Rulings in the University of Michigan Cases

Journal of Dental Education ◽

10.1002/j.0022-0337.2004.68.9.tb03841.x ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 68 (9) ◽

pp. 932-937 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Melanie R. Peterson ◽

Joan E. Kowolik ◽

Gary Coleman ◽

Susan Dietrich ◽

Ana Karina Mascarenhas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Affirmative Action ◽

Supreme Court ◽

University Of Michigan ◽

Supreme Court Rulings ◽

The University ◽

The U.S

Download Full-text

ARE ASIANS THE NEW BLACKS?

Du Bois Review Social Science Research on Race ◽

10.1017/s1742058x18000243 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (02) ◽

pp. 217-244 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Claire Jean Kim

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Affirmative Action ◽

Supreme Court ◽

Asian Americans ◽

Asian American ◽

Social Order ◽

Critical Role ◽

Harvard University ◽

History Of ◽

The U.S

AbstractThis article sheds light on the pending affirmative action lawsuit filed by Asian American plaintiffs against Harvard University by providing a brief history of how Asian Americans have been figured (and have figured themselves) in U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence on race-conscious admissions in higher education. It shows that the figuration of Asian Americans has played a critical role in the legal-ideological project of despecifying Black subjection and disavowing racial positionality in the U.S. social order, from Bakke to the present, and argues that a new ‘sociometry’ of race is necessary to help us understand and challenge persistent structures of racial power.

Download Full-text

Antitrust: U.S. Supreme Court Affirms FTC Jurisdiction but Vacates Scope of Analysis on CDA Policy

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1017/s1073110500012912 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 197-198

Author(s):

Joseph R. Zakhary

Keyword(s):

Public Relations ◽

Supreme Court ◽

Federal Trade Commission ◽

Ninth Circuit ◽

Court Of Appeals ◽

For Profit ◽

Rule Of Reason ◽

Antitrust Analysis ◽

Business Financing ◽

The U.S

In California Dental Association v. FTC, 119 S. Ct. 1604 (1999), the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that a nonprofit affiliation of dentists violated section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), 15 U.S.C.A. § 45 (1998), which prohibits unfair competition. The Court examined two issues: (1) the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) jurisdiction over the California Dental Association (CDA); and (2) the proper scope of antitrust analysis. The Court unanimously held that CDA was subject to FTC's jurisdiction, but split 5-4 in its finding that the district court's use of abbreviated rule-of-reason analysis was inappropriate.CDA is a voluntary, nonprofit association of local dental societies. It boasts approximately 19,000 members, who constitute roughly threequarters of the dentists practicing in California. Although a nonprofit, CDA includes for-profit subsidiaries that financially benefit CDA members. CDA gives its members access to insurance and business financing, and lobbies and litigates on their behalf. Members also benefit from CDA marketing and public relations campaigns.

Download Full-text