Influences of the Legal Arena on Myths Surrounding Affirmative Action

• In Event: 18.011 - Race on Campus: Debunking Myths With Data

Abstract

Race-based affirmative action policies and practices in higher education cannot be divorced from the legal developments that have shaped its current definition and application on college campuses. Affirmative action policies that emerged from a moral, and legal, imperative to address the vestiges of slavery and racial oppression have now come to be seen as racially discriminatory, with the goal of diversity, broadly defined, and as the only permissible rationale for considering race in admissions. [Name omitted], whose research examines the dynamics of law and educational policy on college access and inclusion, will draw on her expertise as a legal scholar and researcher in education to address the book’s chapter on misconceptions related to affirmative action. She will highlight how developments in the legal arena have facilitated myths that permeate public opinion around affirmative action, including the myths: (1) that racial and ethnic diversity comes at the expense of educational quality, (2) that acknowledging or considering race is the equivalent of racial discrimination or “preferences,” and (3) that race-neutral approaches not only exist, but allow for a pathway toward racial and ethnic diversity.

In particular, she will highlight findings from her most recent research examining the influence of legal developments around affirmative action on the work of postsecondary administrators charged with supporting students of color on college campuses. She will discuss the barriers that legal developments around affirmative action, and myths, create for postsecondary institutions, particularly in a “post-truth” era, and will discuss the importance of implementing diversity work through a race- and racism-conscious lens, developing narratives that counter distorted narratives about racial discrimination, and promoting understanding of the racial dimensions of seemingly race-neutral policies.

Author

• Liliana M. Garces, University of Texas at Austin