Affirmative Action

“Positive steps taken to increase the

representation of women and minorities in area
of employment, education, and business from
which they have been historically excluded.”

Source: Fullinwider, 2005.

http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2005/entrie
s/affirmative-action/
 Affirmative Action Timeline
• 1961 - President Kennedy issued Executive Order
10925 that mandates federally funded projects to take
“affirmative practices to ensure employment practices
are free of bias.”
• 1964 - President Johnson prohibits discrimination
based on race, color, religion, or national origin through
the Civil Rights Act.
• 1965 - President Johnson amends EO 11246 to address
discrimination based on gender.
 Affirmative Action Timeline
• 1969 - President Nixon via Philadelphia Order
discourages quotas, but requires contractors to
demonstrate affirmative action to increase minority
employment.
• 1978 - The University of California v. Bakke landmark
Supreme Court case on reverse discrimination.
• 1980s & early 1990s - various court cases regarding
affirmative action and hiring/termination practices in
business and education.
 Affirmative Action Timeline
• 1995 - President Clinton supports policy of “mend it,
don’t end it.”
• 1996 - Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School,
the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals suspended the university’s
affirmative action admissions program and Bakke ruled
invalid.
• 1997 - Proposition 209 (CA) banned all forms of
affirmative action in California (no AA and no
discrimination).
 Affirmative Action Timeline
• 1998 - Washington state passed Initiative 200 (similar
to Proposition 209 in California).
• 2000 - Florida bans race as factor in college
admissions; University of Michigan’s undergrad AA
policy upheld by federal judge.
• 2001 - Different judge’s opposite ruling in University
of Michigan’s case (decision reversed in 2002 on
appeal).
• 2003 - Supreme Court upholds University of
Michigan’s AA because, “it furthers a compelling
interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow
from a diverse student body.”