Affirmative Action's Origins and Legacies

Item set

• Affirmative Action's Origins and Legacies
  This teaching module provides an in-depth look at affirmative action, delving into its origins and tracing its impact to the present day, featuring a webinar with Nebraska Law faculty Eric Berger, Danielle Jefferis, and Catherine Wilson.
• Executive Order 10925 - Establishing the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity
  This executive order by President John F. Kennedy directed government contractors to use affirmative action to ensure people of any "race, creed, color, or national origin" were given equal treatment and opportunity for employment. This executive order also established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.
• Executive Order 11246 - Equal Employment Opportunity
  This executive order enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson was repealed by a January 2025 executive order from Donald Trump. The original order was written to ensure equal opportunity in government employment and limit discrimination based on race. It required employers to furnish documentation of nondiscriminatory practices upon request.
• Executive Order 11478 - Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government
  This executive order from President Richard Nixon ensured the continuation of affirmative action and increased directives to limit discrimination in the workplace. Nixon added that this order intends to prevent discrimination based on sex as well as race.
• Executive Order 12138 - Creating a National Women's Business Enterprise Policy and Prescribing Arrangements for Developing, Coordinating and Implementing a National Program for Women's Business Enterprise
  This executive order from President Jimmy Carter established regulations to ensure women-owned businesses received support from the federal government and that women face less discrimination in the workplace.
• Executive Order 12432 - Minority Business Enterprise Development
  This executive order from President Ronald Reagan sought to protect minority business owners and provide regulations to prevent discrimination. This was one of a series of executive orders to ensure affirmative action issued by every president across the second half of the twentieth century.
• Fisher v. University of Texas
  This Supreme Court case upheld the admissions policies of the University of Texas using the strict scrutiny criteria established by the 2013 Fisher v. University of Texas decision. It was later overturned by the decision in Harvard and UNC v. Students for Fair Admission.
• Gratz v. Bollinger
  In the case of Gratz v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court considered the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions policy and found that race was too significant a factor in admissions decisions.
• Grutter v. Bollinger
  This Supreme Court case upheld the decision in University of California v. Bakke that the narrow use of race in admissions decisions was permissible. This precedent was overturned by the Supreme Court in Harvard and UNC v. Students for Fair Admissions.
• NAACP v. Allen
  In this case, the court ruled that the Department of Public Safety of Alabama needed to follow affirmative action principles to reduce discrimination.
• Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative
  This amendment to the Nebraska Constitution banned the use of affirmative action in the "operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." It was initiated as a ballot measure that was approved in 2008.
• President Johnson's Commencement Address at Howard University: "To Fulfill These Rights"
  In this speech given to Howard University's 1965 graduating class, President Lyndon B. Johnson talks about the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts being passed as a result of the Civil Rights Movement and the long-lasting impacts of systemic racism.
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
  Overturned by the Harvard and UNC v. Students for Fair Admissions decision, the Supreme Court in University of California v. Bakke ruled that college admissions were allowed to take race into account.
• Rehabilitation Act
  This act regulated the Department of Labor and specifically sought to limit discrimination based on disabilities. It required affirmative action in federal employment and created and extended civil rights to people with disabilities. While not as maybe far-reaching as the Americans with Disabilities Act, this act was passed nearly 20 years earlier.
• Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard
  This Supreme Court case considered whether Harvard's admissions process violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Court decided that the race-based admissions system did not meet the strict scrutiny required to allow a race-based system, and held as unconstitutional the consideration of an applicant’s race as a factor in making an admissions decision that benefits diversity.
• Webinar - Affirmative Action's Origins and Legacies
  In this webinar, UNL Law Faculty Eric Berger, Danielle Jefferis, and Catherine Wilson provide an in-depth look at affirmative action, delving into its origins and tracing its impact to the present day.