affirmative action

Definitions

1. 1

   A set of policies or programs providing advantages for people of a group who are seen to…

   A set of policies or programs providing advantages for people of a group who are seen to have traditionally been the target of discrimination.

   • Several proponents of affirmative action who were interviewed cited the scandal to dismiss the notion, advanced by some opponents of the policy, that America has moved beyond racial discrimination.
   • Justice Ginsburg has long argued that percentage plans are just as race-conscious as traditional affirmative action: They seek to increase enrollment among minorities, and they work because the high schools are segregated.
2. 2

   A specific policy with such a goal.

   • The debate on specific affirmative actions has similarly been reduced to mean quotas and preferential treatment of minorities and white women at the expense of white males.

The neighborhood

• neighborreverse discrimination