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Affirmative Action and Subgroup Inequality in Higher Education: Adapting Indian Policy Solutions to the American Context

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The Review of Black Political Economy

Abstract

This paper analyzes racial and ethnic subgroup inequality in higher education in India and the US. Affirmative action policies in both countries rely upon broad categories that subsume distinct groups. These policies have failed to alleviate the significant underrepresentation of black natives and certain lower-castes by considering these populations alongside discrete and oftentimes more advantaged groups. Such inequality hinders attainment of affirmative action’s remedial justice and diversity goals. Some states in India have implemented ‘quotas within quotas’ to alleviate such underrepresentation, dividing lower caste subgroups for admissions purposes. We suggest that US institutions of higher education adopt a similar model by considering black Hispanics, multiracial blacks, black immigrants, and black natives as separate categories in recruiting and admissions.

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Notes

  1. Black Hispanics are defined as those who identify as both Hispanic and black.

  2. Multiracial blacks are defined as non-Hispanics who have one black parent and one parent of another race.

  3. Black immigrants are defined as non-Hispanic students with two black parents, at least one of whom was born outside the US.

  4. Black natives are defined as non-Hispanics with two black parents who were both born in the US.

  5. Castes designated as SCs were at the bottom of the caste hierarchy and formerly known as “untouchables”.

  6. Tribal communities outside of mainstream Indian society were given special designation as Scheduled Tribes.

  7. Other Backward Classes include other lower jatis that were not “untouchables” but similar to SCs in socio-economic status.

  8. “Remedial justice for oppressed groups” is defined as remedying past or ongoing discrimination against a group. All members of the group receive all benefits conferred by remedial justice policies, without needing to prove specific discrimination against an individual.

  9. This paper draws data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen, and only cites the socioeconomic data of admits as opposed to applicants. A study of applicants would complement the research and help to further explain disparities in admissions, potentially revealing further inequalities between black subgroups.

  10. This study uses data from samples of SAT test takers in the years 1998–2001 to construct models that control for various factors such as family background and income, revealing a lower SAT scores among blacks in more segregated cities.

  11. This is not to say that identity convergence does not occur at all (Waters 1994). It should be noted, however, that most studies regarding identity convergence are mostly done in the northeast, and not in the south, which has a more distinct racial past. In a qualitative study at Georgia State University, Ogundipe (2011) found that black immigrants were more likely to adopt identities and perceptions of discrimination similar to black natives. However, this study used a very small sample size, and is not generalizable, but suggests that further research should be done on regional differences.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professors William Darity, Jr. and Rhonda Sharpe for the assistance they provided us in crafting this paper. We would also like to thank all those who gave us comments at the “Subaltern Peoples: Comparative Experience of African Americans, Dalits, and Tribals Conference.”

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Correspondence to Michael Pelle.

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Pelle, M., Patel, S. & Leung, B. Affirmative Action and Subgroup Inequality in Higher Education: Adapting Indian Policy Solutions to the American Context. Rev Black Polit Econ 43, 233–243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12114-015-9227-0

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