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17 Harv. C. R.-C. L. L. Rev. 503 (1982)
The Future of Affirmative Action: A Jurisprudential/Legal Critique

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl17 and id is 513 raw text is: THE FUTURE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: A JURISPRUDENTIAL/LEGAL CRITIQUE Myrl L. Duncan* Introduction The ultimate objective of affirmative action is to bring about a society in which . . . persons will be regarded as persons and discrimination... will be an ugly feature of history that is instruc- tive but that is behind us.' While it is probably impossible to eliminate bigotry, affirmative action seeks to diminish its measur- able effects. Affirmative action can be defined as a public or private program designed to equalize hiring and admissions oppor- tunities for historically disadvantaged groups by taking into con- sideration those very characteristics which have been used to deny them equal treatment.' Such explicit, systemic consideration of these characteristics in determining who obtains a job or a place in an entering class is and has historically been extremely controversial. *Assistant Professor of Law, Washburn University School of Law; B.A. University of Kansas, 1970; J.D. Georgetown, 1975; LL.M. Columbia, 1981. I would like to thank J. Richard Foth, Kent Greenawalt, Paul Rasor and William Rich for their contributions to the improvement of this paper. 'Regents of the Univ. of Calif. v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265, 403 (1978)(Blackmun, J., separate opinion). 2 I particularly like one commentator's somewhat more extensive definition: Affirmative action means that someone who has the potential for being a good employee, apprentice, supervisor, or professional, but who lacks the formal, paper qualification customarily required, is nontheless offered an opportunity to get into the classroom, apprenticeship pro- gram, or job, in order to enable the applicant to overcome the effects of past discrimination against the group of which he or she is a member. Ginger, Who Needs Affirmative Action, 14 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 265, 268 (1979).