What will happen without affirmative action in colleges? University leaders fear a lapse in diversity efforts. - 19th News
“Race-neutral policies won’t fix issues that have plagued the country based on race,” said Jessica Giles, executive director of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER). “We’re still feeling the impact of slavery, of Jim Crow, and we’re seeing it in just about every outcome that there is, so we need affirmative action.”
Perceptions of affirmative action — both in the courts and in the public — have evolved since the government established the practice during the civil rights struggle. But supporters say the policy has served one focus in higher education: diversify institutions that have traditionally excluded women, people of color and other groups.
