Citizen Advocacy Center

Affirmative Action and the Michigan Cases

Lesson Plan and Activity

Grade Level: 11, 12

Subjects:

• Social Studies: U.S. Government and social trends
• Language Arts: Reading, Writing

Duration: 1 class

Description: This lesson provides an overview of the history of affirmative action, as well as acceptable current applications.

ISBE Standards:

1. Social Science:

§ 14.F.5: Interpret how changing geographical, economic, technological and social forces affect United States political ideas and traditions;

§ 14.F.4b: Describe how United States’ political ideas, practices and technologies have extended rights for Americans in the 20^th century;

§ 16A: Apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation; and

§ 16B: Understand the development of significant political events.

2. Language Art:

§ 1A: Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections;

§ 3A: Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure;

§ 3B: Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences;

§ 4A: Listen effectively in formal and informal situations; and

§ 4B: Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

Objectives:

• Understand the basic history of affirmative action in the United States;
• Obtain a basic understanding of the two landmark Supreme Court cases in 2003 discussing affirmative action;
• Identify the major arguments for and against affirmative action; and
• Create an articulate and persuasive argument regarding affirmative action.

Materials:

• Paper
• Pens

Instruction and Activity:

1. Start with a class discussion, racially breaking down the population of the United States. This activity gives students a context for current applications of affirmative action. (All data was taken from the 2000 United States Census)

§ Break the United States population down racially.

· Total population: 281,421,906

· White: 75.1%

· African American: 12.3%

· Asian: 3.6%

· Hispanic: 12.5%

§ Ask the class if they can guess what national percentage of students graduate from high school?

· 84.6%

§ Ask the class if they can guess what percentage of Americans have bachelor degrees?

· 27.2% (remind them that this does not take into account those with degrees from technical, junior, or community colleges)

§ Inform the class that:

· 50% of Asians have a college degree or more

· 30% of Whites have a college degree or more

· 17% of African Americans have a college degree or more

· 11% of Hispanics have a college degree or more

§ In 2000, only 9.9% of all engineers, 1.2% of all auto mechanics and 1.7% of all carpenters were women.

§ The median income for each racial group is:

· $45,400 Asians

· $45,600 Whites

· $40,000 African Americans

· $37,000 Hispanics

§ Ask the class if they have ever heard of Affirmative Action, and ask them to define it.

2. Explain the history of Affirmative Action.

• The Equal Protection Clause (EPC) of the 14^th Amendment forbids states from creating any law that denies citizens equal protection; “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
• However, throughout American history the equal protection clause has proved to be inadequate in preventing discrimination against minorities and women (for example the Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth century). As a result, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, reinforcing the 14^th Amendment and forbidding discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex. The Civil Rights Act also banned the use of quotas to assure minority participation in certain programs.
• Although the Civil Rights Act was a monumental first step in eliminating discrimination in America, President Johnson warned in 1967 that it still wasn’t enough, and two nations were emerging, “separate and unequal.”
• In response to President Johnson’s articulated fear, his successor, Richard Nixon, and Congress passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which strengthened the power of the federal government to sue employers, unions, states and local governments for discriminating in employment. The act required employers to make a “good faith effort” to hire more racial minorities and to set up “goals and timetables.” These plans were entitled “affirmative action programs.” For example, minority owned construction companies traditionally are overlooked when bidding for construction projects. As a result, Congress created “minority bid contracts.” With a “minority bid contract,” contractors receive government subsidies when they accept a bid from a minority owned construction company. As a result, contractors may accept a higher minority bid in order to receive the government subsidies.
• Affirmative Action is presently used in matters beyond employment, reaching into areas such as college admissions. It is a highly contentious issue. Critics argue that affirmative action unfairly rewards lesser-qualified individuals. Supporters argue that affirmative action acts as a remedy for racial minorities and women who have been systematically excluded and discriminated against throughout history.

3. Allow the class to brainstorm arguments for and against affirmative action. Re-enforce to the class that arguments expressed do not necessarily have to reflect personal opinions; rather student’s statements should reflect arguments that exist in America. Recognized arguments are listed below.

Pro:

• Affirmative action allows a diversity of viewpoints to exist within one environment, creating more lively and intelligent debates.
• Affirmative action creates cross-racial understanding because individuals are forced to work in heterogeneous environments that require racial tolerance.
• Opening the door to minorities allows more minorities to follow in their footsteps, thus creating a more educated citizenry.
• Conscious and unconscious race bias remains alive in America, and affirmative action federally mandates that those prejudices be broken down.
• “Levels the playing field” between individuals from different backgrounds without similar opportunities.

Con:

• Affirmative action results in undeserved privileges being extended to individuals solely based on their race. (“reverse racism”)
• Affirmative action has no educational benefits because it stereotypes minority groups as reflecting a certain unified viewpoint.
• The time and place for affirmative action has expired and it is no longer necessary.

4. Present the class with the following hypotheticals to decide if they are a valid exercise of affirmative action powers. (Note: In addition to reading the hypotheticals out loud, it may be beneficial to distribute a hand-out) For this exercise, students can be broken up into teams to formulate arguments for or against each hypothetical. After coming back together, students should articulate their arguments for the entire class.

• Hypo A: Fun University has a history of racial discrimination. In the last twenty years, new leadership at the University has tried to change past policies, creating a much more diverse, “minority-friendly” environment. However, minorities are still underrepresented at Fun University. As a result, the admissions committee decided to institute a new policy when choosing between undergraduate applicants for admission. The admission committee will consider the following factors: high school grades, standardized test scores, high school quality, curriculum strength, geography, alumni relationships, and leadership. Each factor will be assigned a point value, totaling one hundred points. For example, a student with a perfect SAT score will get 12/12 points. A student in the 90^th percentile will get 10/12 points. Students with the higher point values will be admitted into the undergraduate program. In addition, those students that are “underrepresented minorities” will automatically be awarded 20 points. Is this a valid exercise of affirmative action?
• Hypo B: In addition to its undergraduate program, Fun University also has a law school. When considering applicants for its law school, the admissions committee takes a much more individualized approach due to the smaller number of applications received. Procedurally, the admission committee looks at undergraduate grades, standardized test scores, undergraduate school quality, curriculum strength, geography, alumni relationships, and extra-curricular activities. An applicant’s listing as an “underrepresented minority” is considered a strong factor for admission, but not a predominant factor. In other words, unlike Hypo A, no extra “points” are given to underrepresented minorities. Is this a valid exercise of affirmative action?

5. Explain that the hypotheticals are based on real fact situations put before the Supreme Court in 2003. The University of Michigan used both admission procedures.

• Answer Hypo A: Hypo A was found unconstitutional in Gratz v.Bollinger, 123 S. Ct. 2411 (2003). The Court looked at Michigan’s policy under an equal protection clause analysis. In order to survive an equal protection analysis, the plan must be based on a compelling state interest (Note: A compelling interest is an interest in which the state is forced or obliged to protect, as defined by the courts) and be narrowly tailored to advance that interest (Note: Narrowly tailored means that the rule or law is specific enough that it does not have consequences for a group it was not intended to affect). The Court decided that Michigan’s policy served a compelling interest, racial diversity (this was the first time the Court found racial diversity to be a compelling interest), but it was not narrowly tailored. Too many individuals were unduly rewarded or penalized based on their race. The Court stated that if the admission policy allowed for more individualized review, without the automatic reward of 20 points, then maybe the admission policy would not violate the equal protection clause.
• Answer Hypo B: Hypo B was found constitutional in Grutter v. Bollinger, 123 S. Ct. 2325 (2003). Once again, the Court found racial diversity to be a compelling interest, however, the law school admission policy was narrowly tailored because it allowed more individualistic review. Race was an extremely strong factor but it was not a predominant factor.

6. Homework questions

• What is affirmative action?
• Can you give me an example of an affirmative action program?
• What did the Supreme Court say about affirmative action in 2003?
• What do you think about affirmative action?

Sources:

United States Census Bureau

www.crf-usa.org/brown50th/adarand_affirmative_action.htm

Grutter v. Bollinger, 123 S. Ct. 2325 (2003)

Gratz v. Bollinger, 123 S. Ct. 2411 (2003)

©Copyright 2005 Citizen Advocacy Center. All rights reserved. No part of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center. The Citizen Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-pofit, non-partisan community based legal organization. For information about the Center, or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit www.citizenadvocacycenter.org, call 630.833.4080. The Center is located at 238 N. York Rd., Elmhurst IL 60126