Affirmative action to bussing

• What is affirmative action based on?


  It is based on the belief that past discrimination against AAs can only be conquered by preferential government policy.
• Why did President Johnson insist on an EEOC?


  He believed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be meaningless without firm measures for implementation.
• What were government contractors required to do under affirmative action?


  They were required to give preferential treatment to AAs and other minorities.
• What realization did employers come to regarding federal contracts?


  Employers realized they must employ more AA workers to secure federal contract work.
• What did President Nixon's Executive Order 11578 require?


  It required all employers with federal contracts to draft affirmative action policies.
• What was controversial about Nixon's support for the Philadelphia plan?


  It attempted to guarantee minority access to blue-collar jobs by setting quotas for AA apprentices.
• How successful was the Philadelphia plan in opening up the construction industry?


  It proved reasonably successful in opening up the construction industry to AA workers.
• What did the Supreme Court rule in Giggs v Duke Power Company (1971)?


  It ruled that affirmative action was constitutional.
• What backlash did preferential treatment for minorities provoke?


  It provoked backlash from white workers who argued it was reverse discrimination against them.
• In which case was the principle of affirmative action challenged in the Supreme Court in 1978?


  University of California v Bakke.
• What claim did Allan Bakke make regarding his admission to the University of California?


  He claimed his academic record was better than sixteen minority students who were admitted.
• How many places were reserved for disadvantaged students at the University of California?


  Sixteen out of 100 places were reserved.
• What did Bakke argue he was denied?


  He argued he was denied the equal protection of the law.
• What was the Supreme Court's compromise decision in Bakke's case?


  Affirmative action was constitutional as long as it was one element in the admission process, but explicit racial classification without prior discrimination breached the 14th Amendment.
• What was the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision regarding Bakke's admission?


  Bakke had to be admitted to the university.
• How did affirmative action affect political voting patterns in the 1970s and 1980s?


  It likely accounted for a shift of white working-class males voting for conservative Republicans rather than Democrats.
• What happened to EEOC funding under President Reagan?


  Funding for the EEOC was reduced.
• What was Reagan's belief regarding affirmative action?


  He believed the government had been promoting reverse discrimination.
• By 1984, how many cases was the EEOC filing compared to 1980?


  It was filing 60% fewer cases than in 1980.
• What position did President Clinton take on affirmative action in 1995?


  He argued that affirmative action was flawed but necessary to reverse centuries of discrimination.
• During which administration did the desegregation of southern public schools proceed?


  During the Nixon administration.
• Why did desegregation no longer attract massive resistance in the Nixon era?


  Partly due to the consultative and non-coercive style of Nixon’s Secretary for Labor, George Shultz.
• What percentage of AA children attended all-black schools by 1974?


  Only 8% attended all-black schools.
• What did the Supreme Court rule in Alexander v Holmes County Board of Education?


  It ruled that school desegregation had to be implemented immediately.
• What was the issue with demographic reality regarding desegregation?


  Many AAs were restricted to inner cities while suburbs were predominantly white.
• When did the policy of bussing students to achieve equal opportunities start?


  It started in the 1960s.
• How did parents react to the bussing policy?

  It was deeply unpopular, with a Gallup poll showing three out of four white Americans opposed it.
• What was the most notable opposition to bussing in Boston?

  Fierce opposition occurred at South Boston High, with verbal abuse and stones thrown at buses bringing in black children.
• What happened to the number of white students in Boston's public schools from 1974 to 1987?

  The number dropped from 45,000 to 16,000.
• What happened to Senator Edward Kennedy during the bussing protests in 1974?


  He was forced to escape from a hostile crowd when the Federal Building in Boston was surrounded by activists opposed to bussing.
• How did the opposition to bussing in Boston shock liberals?


  It shocked them given Boston's history as a center of the American Revolution and the abolitionist movement.
• In which elections did bussing become a political issue?

  Bussing became a political issue in the elections of 1968 and 1972.
• What did Nixon do regarding the Supreme Court during his presidency?


  Nixon made conservative appointments to slow the pace of liberal rulings.
• What was the ruling in Milliken v Bradley (1974)?


  It declared cross-district bussing in Detroit unconstitutional.
• What was significant about the Milliken decision?


  It was the first NAACP case in 20 years where the court did not approve a desegregation order.
• How did the Milliken decision affect rulings in favor of minorities?


  It marked a turning point as rulings in favor of minorities gradually reduced thereafter.