Collision Course The Strange Convergence of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy in America

by Graham, Hugh Davis

• ISBN13: 9780195168891
• ISBN10: 0195168895
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-08-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 were passed, they were seen as triumphs of liberal reform. Yet today affirmative action is foundering in the great waves of immigration from Asia and Latin America, leading to direct competition for jobs, housing, education, and government preference programs. In Collision Course , Hugh Davis Graham explains how two such well-intended laws came into conflict with each other when employers, acting under affirmative action plans, hired millions of new immigrants ushered in by the Immigration Act, while leaving high unemployment among inner-city blacks. He shows how affirmative action for immigrants stirred wide resentment and drew new attention to policy contradictions. Graham sees a troubled future for both programs. As the economy weakens and antiterrorist border controls tighten, the competition for jobs will intensify pressure on affirmative action and invite new restrictions on immigration. Graham's insightful interpretation of the unintended consequences of these policies is original and controversial.

Author Biography

The late Hugh Davis Graham was Holland N. McTyeire Professor of History and Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. An authority on contemporary political issues, he authored several books, including Civil Rights and the Presidency (OUP).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Civil Rights Reform in the 1960s	p. 13
Immigration Reform in the 1960s	p. 35
Origins and Development of Race-Conscious Affirmative Action	p. 65
The Return of Mass Immigration	p. 93
The Strange Convergence of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy	p. 131
Conclusion	p. 165
Notes	p. 201
Index	p. 229
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