Racial Quotas

Can there be affirmative action without special preferences?

Introduction

The civil rights debates of the 1990s are a far cry from those of the 1960s. Gone is the stirring rhetoric of Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” speech. In its place is a single word: quotas. The resentments generated by the quota issue can be seen in debates over college admissions policies and in controversies over hiring and promotion. But the main focus is in Congress, where supporters of affirmative action are pushing a new civil rights bill. President Bush vetoed a similar measure last year, saying it would force employers to adopt racial quotas. The bill's supporters say it would do no such thing, and they accuse the president of using the quota issue to scare white voters. Looming over the debate ...

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