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Affirmative Action: Not the Harsh Impact on Whites That Some Assume

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Impacts of Racism on White Americans In the Age of Trump

Abstract

Fred Pincus explains what affirmative action is. He dispels the conservative truism that affirmative action is about reverse discrimination against White Americans. Affirmative action has benefited the overwhelming majority of people who have ever applied for work or applied to a college or university because it established a procedure for fairness and makes decisions less arbitrary. Intentional interventions into the racial practices and outcomes of institutions are the only effective way to correct historic and contemporary racial inequalities. New affirmative action-type measures will have to be taken to reduce racial and other inequalities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the purposes of this chapter, I will not discuss veterans and the disabled. They deserve their own special discussion.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Fred L. Pincus

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  1. Fred L. Pincus
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Correspondence to Fred L. Pincus .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA

    Duke W. Austin

  2. California State University, East Bay, Hayward, CA, USA

    Benjamin P. Bowser

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Pincus, F.L. (2021). Affirmative Action: Not the Harsh Impact on Whites That Some Assume. In: Austin, D.W., Bowser, B.P. (eds) Impacts of Racism on White Americans In the Age of Trump. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75232-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75232-3_13

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-75231-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-75232-3

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