Bad Guidance on Racial Preferences

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

As the K–12 school year draws to a close, school boards and superintendents will have to decide about tweaking student assignments for the fall. As they do so, they will also have to decide how much weight to give to the Obama administration’s “Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools,” which was released jointly late last year by the Education and Justice Departments.  The guidance encourages schools to consider students’ race and ethnicity in deciding who goes to which school. Related posts: Disparate Impact Delenda Est Good News: …

For once, the New York Times is right!

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

Earlier this year, the New York Times ran an editorial titled, “The Affirmative Action War Goes On.”  Well, for once it’s right:  That war does continue. Related posts: Update on the Struggle against Universities’ Affirmative Discrimination Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! Good Briefs in the Harvard Case BAMN! The Center for Equal Opportunity Zaps Racial Preferences

Discriminating Eye

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

There was a dubious Associated Press story over the weekend about how California public universities are having to struggle to achieve “diversity”—defined as a student body that reflects the general population of the state—since Proposition 209 banned racial preferences in admissions there in 1996.  (Center for Equal Opportunity studies documenting discrimination there helped pass that initiative, btw.) Related posts: Diversity Myths The Mismatch Game Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader?

Affirmative Action Questions for the Candidates

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

With the Supreme Court set now—in an election year— to revisit the issue of racial preferences in university admissions, the various political candidates need to be ready for questions regarding their stance on affirmative action.  Here are my suggested Q’s and A’s (originally posted on National Review Online here):   Related posts: Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader? TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT Five Mistakes Some Conservatives Are Making on Immigration Policy Good News: Trump Rescinds Obama’s “Affirmative Action” Guidance

Fact-Checking the New York Times

Roger CleggEmployment

The Supreme Court’s decision to grant review in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case challenging that school’s use of racial and ethnic preferences in undergraduate admissions, got front-page, next-day treatment in the New York Times. Unfortunately, the article is misleading in some important ways. No surprise: The mainstream media’s efforts to pressure the justices are under way. Related posts: TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT Suggested Reading on Civil Rights Issues The Mismatch Game Another Reason to End Preferences

CEO Praises Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear Fisher v. University of Texas

Roger CleggEducation

(Falls Church, VA) The Center for Equal Opportunity praised the Supreme Court’s decision today to grant review in Fisher v. University of Texas, a case challenging the use of racial and ethnic preferences by the university in undergraduate admissions. Related posts: Fisher v. University of Texas Wrap-Up – Whew! Did Juan Williams libel LU’s Hans Bader? Politicized external review panels as unguided “diversity” missiles: California university administrators remain ultra-slow learners For once, the New York Times is right!

Affirmative Action Watch

CEO StaffRacial Preferences

Your Anti-Discrimination Hotline In most instances, the use of preferences on the basis of race or ethnicity in education, employment, or government contracting violates federal law. This is true even in cases of “affirmative action” and “diversity” programs. The Center for Equal Opportunity is interested in hearing about such discrimination. In many instances, we may be able to do something about it. This is especially true when the discrimination is openly stated–as is often the case, believe it or not. CEO will not serve as your attorney, but in many cases we will contact the alleged discriminator, and in other …

Quotas, Quotas Everywhere

CEO StaffRacial Preferences

In a Wall Street Journal interview  this month about “the need to focus more on women” by corporations, McKinsey & Co.’s global managing director, Dominic Barton, says: “So if I think about appointments I would do, if I have a choice between a man and a woman and they’re equal in what they’ll do, I will defer to the woman.” And Debra Lee, chairman and chief executive of Viacom Inc.’s BET Networks, says: “And it’s not about quotas. It’s about making sure you have representation on your executive team, and whether that’s minorities or women, whatever it is, you have to …

Sane Stern, Crazy Cuomo

Roger CleggEmployment

The sports section of Monday’s New York Times has a long puff piece  on Richard Lapchick and how he pushes for “diversity” (that is, race-based hiring practices) in professional and amateur sports. But in the middle of the predictable pabulum is a bracing dissenting note from NBA commissioner David Stern: Lapchick said he began receiving more cooperation in the years after Bud Selig and Roger Goodell became commissioners of M.L.B. and the N.F.L. But Commissioner David Stern, whose N.B.A. has historically received higher grades than the other leagues, argued that Lapchick’s good intentions—when carried to routine—missed the essential aim of fair-minded …

Surprise result when city ends preferences in contracting

Roger CleggRacial Preferences

Supporters of racial and gender preferences in public contracting claim that preferences are needed because, without them, few contracts would go to minority- or women-owned firms. But a study recently done for Charlotte, N.C., reached exactly the opposite conclusion. After race and gender preferences ended, work awarded to minority- and women-owned businesses increased. How can that be? A bit of history is needed: Not long ago, Charlotte had a Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) program with preferential goals in its public contracts. The goals were suspended in 2002 as the result of a court challenge. The following year the …