Tuesday, November 14
The Politics of Race

CASE

THE BEST OF INTENTIONS  (Classpak #6)

Case Questions:

What issues are the involved in this dilemma?

Should Cynthia give Steve the assignment?

Should Steve accept the job if offered?

ONLINE READING: Goes With the Case

Racist Like Me.  Slate, August 11, 2004. ("In a nation riven to its very core by race, I appear to be the only remaining racist. Off and on, I'm homophobic and anti-Semitic, too, but mostly, I'm racist. Yet unlike the rest of you, I'm honest about it.")

ONLINE READING: Affirmative Action

Race and the Uses of Law. The New York Times, April 13, 2001. (op-ed by NYU professor of law and philosophy on whether affirmative action is "unfair")

Yes, There Are Easy Answers. Slate, December 1, 1999. (looks at approach in some states to affirmative action in college admissions)

Affirmative Action Survives, and So Does the Debate. Chronicle of Higher Education, July 4, 2003. (analysis of the landmark 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in university admissions)

OPTIONAL READING: Stereotype Threat

Thin Ice. Atlantic Monthly, August, 1999. (prominent social psychologist Claude Steele explains his work on race differences in certain forms of performance)

The Threat in the Air. Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2004. (op-ed commentary by a law professor Amy Wax skeptical about the importance of "stereotype threat")

'Stereotype Threat' a Factor in Test Score Gap. Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2004. (Reply to Wax's piece by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson)