The Myth of Meritocracy: Anti–Affirmative Action Discourse and Whiteness in Higher Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 57
  In Roundtable Session: Education Policy and Race

Abstract

This paper aims to push thinking about the ways in which anti-affirmative action discourse (re)produces a possessive investment in whiteness (Lipsitz, 1998). Critical discourse analysis of campus and local newspapers reveals the following themes regarding college access and meritocracy: a) colorblindness, b) quantitative measurement as excellence, and c) white entitlement/deservedness. Such discourses of merit contribute to systems of race exclusion and shaming that invest in white dominance in US higher education. These findings have implications for policy creation, policy analysis, and public advocacy for higher education.

Authors

• Moira Ozias, University of Oklahoma

• T. Elon Dancy, University of Oklahoma