The Remedy

In a sweeping and damning analysis, Kahlenberg examines how the rationale for affirmative action has moved inexorably away from its original commitment to remedy past discrimination and instead has become a means to achieve racial diversity, even if that means giving preference to upper-middle-class blacks over poor whites. Such perverse outcomes, he shows, have undermined the moral legitimacy of affirmative action, which is supposed to benefit the truly disadvantaged, not the well-to-do. If Bill Cosby's kids are given preferences in college admissions and employment opportunities while a coal miner's kids are shut out, then something has gone very wrong. But Kahlenberg goes beyond simple criticism to outline how a class-based system of affirmative action would work, and why the objections often raised turn out to be red herrings. Moreover, he pays particular attention to the impact of such a policy on the African-American community, showing that because blacks are disproportionately poor, they would still continue to reap a disproportionate share of the benefits, but without engendering resentment or feelings of injustice within the white community. The problem of race is not going to disappear anytime soon, but The Remedy provides a way to cut the Gordian knot over affirmative action without sacrificing or compromising American ideals.

Year

1996

Language

English

Publisher

Basic Books

Editions

3

Pages

384

ISBN

9780465098248

Data source: Wikidata