The Battle of Ann Arbor

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

A philosophy professor’s belief in colorblind law led him to oppose the university’s use of affirmative action in admissions decisions. The Supreme Court has decided four cases involving affirmative action in admissions, two of which were the 2003 controversies from state schools in Michigan, Gratz and Grutter. Treated to an amicus brief in the cases by the Center for Equal Opportunity, the Court divided on the merits, leaving resolution on the issue for a later case, perhaps the one now arising from Harvard. In 2015 University of Michigan philosophy professor Carl Cohen wrote the compelling account of Gratz and Grutter …

The Justice Department Is Rethinking Affirmative Action—That’s a Good Thing

Terry EastlandRacial Preferences

A complaint against Harvard’s use of race in admissions may result in an end to this discriminatory practice. I wrote the article below for the Weekly Standard back August, when the story first came out. Here at CEO we’ve been following the complaint. It’s taken longer than we thought it would for the Justice Department to decide whether to enter the case as a friend of the court or to file its own complaint or—the wrong course in my view—to do nothing. Yet in recent weeks issues over the government’s access to Harvard’s admissions records have been resolved. So there’s reason …

Does MLB’s New Diversity Fellowship Violate Civil Rights Law?

Terry EastlandEmployment

The job description explicitly says only women and applicants of color will be considered. Baseball is my sport, and kudos to the Houston Astros for winning the World Series—its first ever. But discrimination on the basis of race and sex remains wrong and illegal, and as I wrote in this piece, first published in The Weekly Standard, Major League Baseball needs to ask whether it really wants to deny jobs in its business operations to people who lack the “right” skin color or sex. Of all the professional sports, Major League baseball has the broadest range of players from diverse …

DOJ Investigating Harvard’s Racial Preferences

Roger CleggEducation

Over the summer, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division was taking steps to investigate Harvard University’s use of racial preferences in admissions, especially insofar as they discriminate against Asian-American applicants. You may recall that the Center for Equal Opportunity was mentioned prominently as encouraging the investigation (see the statement we issued here) when the story was first reported in the New York Times.  Well, news stories are now confirming that this investigation is, indeed, under way. Good. As I explain here, such an investigation is entirely appropriate. What’s more, such discrimination should be stopped …

Why Racial Preferences Remain Wrongheaded

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

Last week, Inside Higher Ed published my essay on racial preferences, which you can read here: Why Racial Preferences Remain Wrongheaded Those who defend them should consider whether they’d require them indefinitely and whether such a requirement is consistent with good race relations in the country America is becoming, argues Roger Clegg. Last month, The New York Times reported that the U.S. Justice Department was preparing to begin “investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants.” It turned out that what the Justice Department was really up to was investigating admissions discrimination against …

CEO Praises Justice Department

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

Last week was a busy one here at the Center for Equal Opportunity. After word broke in the New York Times late Tuesday that the Justice Department was planning to take on affirmative action in college admissions (a story I was quoted in), a predictable media frenzy was unleashed to cover the story. Of course, the usual suspects on the Left attacked the Trump administration and played the race card, labeling any effort to stop racial preferences in college admissions as “racist,” but the Center for Equal Opportunity was out in full force to applaud the Justice Department and educate the public on the legal and …

Art for Color’s Sake

Roger CleggEmployment

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio wants to coerce museums and arts groups that receive city money into using hiring quotas based on race and ethnicity, according to the New York Times. But it would be illegal for employers to give in to this pressure, because Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act forbids such discrimination. Federal statute aside, it is unconstitutional for the city to engage in such pressuring. Any use of racial and ethnic classifications is “presumptively invalid” and triggers “strict scrutiny,” which can be met only if, for starters, there is a “compelling” government interest. …

“Diversity” and Other Euphemisms

Roger CleggEducation

Last week, the Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed complaining that the word “diversity” is a euphemism, since its proponents really want nothing more than nondiscrimination.  My published rejoinder to this dubious claim: I wish it were true that those asking for “diversity” were asking only for nondiscrimination, as Noah Berlatsky writes. But in many contexts the opposite is true: The last thing they want is nondiscrimination, and what they are asking for is precisely discrimination, albeit of the politically correct sort. (“‘Diversity’ is a euphemism. We should be careful how we use it,” Opinion, July 10) Thus, when universities …

Uber Takes Eric Holder’s Bad Advice

Roger CleggEmployment

Uber hired former attorney general Eric Holder to give it some advice about its scandal-ridden workplace. Predictably, much of that advice turned out to be more politically correct than legally sound, much like the Justice Department when he was running it. Alas, the Uber board has already announced that it will adopt Mr. Holder’s recommendations. In particular, Mr. Holder wants Uber to get its numbers right, by hiring more “underrepresented” minorities and women. And so: “The Head of Diversity (or Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer) should set goals with respect to annual improvements in diversity and regularly publish data on …