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6 The Social Construction of Reverse Discrimination

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Reverse Discrimination
This chapter is in the book Reverse Discrimination
The majority of authors cited in the last chapter argue that reverse discrimination is not the only way to understand how whites areaffected by affirmative action. Even for those who want to argue thataffirmative action sometimes hurts whites, reverse discrimination is notthe most appropriate concept to employ.The language used to analyze a problem is critical, and opponentsof affirmative action are well aware of this. The Adversity.net (2003)website contains the following introduction to their section “Terms andDefinitions of the Racial and Gender Preferences Movement”: “Thequota industry works overtime to invent terms that they think will sellracial and gender quotas, preferences, targets and goals. A new termseems to be invented every week. Language is very important in ourfight for color-blind justice. Language shapes our perception of ourenvironment. Don’t let the quota industry define your environment!” Ofcourse, the anti–affirmative action forces are also trying to use languageto define the environment, which is why they insist that goals and quo-tas are the same thing.The intent of this chapter is to demonstrate that using the concept ofreverse discrimination or any of its euphemisms does not adequatelyportray the way affirmative action affects whites. According to Gamsonand Modigliani, “Every policy issue is contested in a symbolic arena.Advocates of one or another persuasion attempt to give their own mean-ing to the issue and to events that may affect its outcome. Their weaponsare metaphors, catchphrases, and other condensing symbols that framethe issue in a particular fashion. . . . The ideas in this cultural catalogueare organized and clustered: we encounter them not as individual items776TheSocialConstructionofReverseDiscrimination
© 2022, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, USA

The majority of authors cited in the last chapter argue that reverse discrimination is not the only way to understand how whites areaffected by affirmative action. Even for those who want to argue thataffirmative action sometimes hurts whites, reverse discrimination is notthe most appropriate concept to employ.The language used to analyze a problem is critical, and opponentsof affirmative action are well aware of this. The Adversity.net (2003)website contains the following introduction to their section “Terms andDefinitions of the Racial and Gender Preferences Movement”: “Thequota industry works overtime to invent terms that they think will sellracial and gender quotas, preferences, targets and goals. A new termseems to be invented every week. Language is very important in ourfight for color-blind justice. Language shapes our perception of ourenvironment. Don’t let the quota industry define your environment!” Ofcourse, the anti–affirmative action forces are also trying to use languageto define the environment, which is why they insist that goals and quo-tas are the same thing.The intent of this chapter is to demonstrate that using the concept ofreverse discrimination or any of its euphemisms does not adequatelyportray the way affirmative action affects whites. According to Gamsonand Modigliani, “Every policy issue is contested in a symbolic arena.Advocates of one or another persuasion attempt to give their own mean-ing to the issue and to events that may affect its outcome. Their weaponsare metaphors, catchphrases, and other condensing symbols that framethe issue in a particular fashion. . . . The ideas in this cultural catalogueare organized and clustered: we encounter them not as individual items776TheSocialConstructionofReverseDiscrimination
© 2022, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, USA

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Tables vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. 1 Introduction 1
  6. 2 What Is Affirmative Action? 21
  7. 3 The History of Reverse Discrimination 35
  8. 4 Affirmative Action Critics 43
  9. 5 Affirmative Action Supporters 63
  10. 6 The Social Construction of Reverse Discrimination 77
  11. 7 An Exploratory Study 89
  12. 8 An Empirical Study 107
  13. 9 Selected Court Cases 121
  14. 10 Conclusion 139
  15. Appendix: A Dialogue with an Anti–Affirmative Action Activist 147
  16. Bibliography 159
  17. Index 175
  18. About the Book 183
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781626374874-008

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Tables vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. 1 Introduction 1
  6. 2 What Is Affirmative Action? 21
  7. 3 The History of Reverse Discrimination 35
  8. 4 Affirmative Action Critics 43
  9. 5 Affirmative Action Supporters 63
  10. 6 The Social Construction of Reverse Discrimination 77
  11. 7 An Exploratory Study 89
  12. 8 An Empirical Study 107
  13. 9 Selected Court Cases 121
  14. 10 Conclusion 139
  15. Appendix: A Dialogue with an Anti–Affirmative Action Activist 147
  16. Bibliography 159
  17. Index 175
  18. About the Book 183
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