Good afternoon IB History students,

On Tuesday we will discuss the application of the 14th Amendment's equal

protection clause to the current debate over affirmative action in the
college admissions process - using race as a factor in admissions to give
preferential treatment to minority students. The first major Supreme Court
case involving the issue of affirmative action in college admissions was the
University of California Davis v. Bakke (1978), in which a white male was
denied admission to the UC Davis Medical School despite having higher
grades / test scores than minority applicants admitted because the medical
school used racial quotas (required that 16 out of the 100 people admitted
to the incoming class be racial minorities). The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that this admission system of racial quotas was unconstitutional and
violated Allan Bakke's equal protection under the law guaranteed by the
14th Amendment, but upheld the use of race in college admissions as long
as it was not the only factor in an admissions decision. This summer,
Abigail Fisher, a white woman, argued that the University of Texas college
admission policy violated her constitutional right to equal protection under
the law. This case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the majority
of the Supreme Court ruled that the UT admissions policy was
constitutional and thus upheld affirmative action in college admissions. The
links below are to articles pertaining to the Fisher case and opinions both
for (the LA Times opinion articles) and against (The Atlantic article)
affirmative action in college admissions. Please read these articles and
answer the questions under the article links (which we will discuss on
Tuesday):

Article Links (HW Questions Below the Last Link):

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/politics/supreme-court-abortion-affirmative-
action-texas-immigration/

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/16/opinion/la-ed-texas-university-
affirmative-action-20120816

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/23/opinion/la-ed-affirmative-20120223

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/the-painful-truth-
about-affirmative-action/263122/

HW Questions (Can Email Me or Write Out Responses):

1. Do you believe that affirmative action in college admissions is an

appropriate way to remedy (make right) past discrimination minorities have
experienced in this country? Why?

2. Do you agree with the ruling in the Fisher case? Why or why not?

3. Discuss one argument from an LA Times opinion article in support of

affirmative action that you either agree or disagree with and explain why.

4. Discuss one argument from The Atlantic article against affirmative action
that you either agree or disagree with and explain why.