Over the past few weeks, I have talked with the parents about the implications of the ban against affirmative action. My discussions with Black parents have been mixed. Some worry that schools will no longer be proactive in recruiting Black students. Others are offended by the rhetoric suggesting that Black students can only attend elite institutions if there is affirmative action.
The Asian parents seem both relieved and anxious. These parents know their child has not been denied admission because of a Black or Hispanic student. Yet, they seem relieved that schools cannot give points or penalize (Asian students) because of race. However, they are anxious because they do not know how admissions policies will adjust to achieve the diversity in the student body believed to create a more competitive workforce.
These conversations centered race and ethnicity-based affirmative action, not gender- or sex-based affirmative action.
Gender-Based Affirmative Action
As central bankers from the U.S. and other countries prepare to gather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to discuss the economy, I have been thinking about the unemployment rate of Black women. For some, the convergence of unemployment rates for women to pre-pandemic levels is good news (See Chart 1).
It is not good news!
Chart 1. Unemployment Rate for Black, Hispanic, and White Women
Returning to a nearly two percentage point gap in the Black-White unemployment rate for women is not good news (See Chart 2). It is expecting – no, accepting – that White women will have better outcomes in the labor market. In June, White women had lower unemployment rates than all comparison groups except Asians.
Chart 2. Unemployment Gap for Black, Hispanic, and White Women
I am still waiting for BLS to report data for Asians disaggregated and seasonally adjusted as they do for other groups.
People will justify these results with data about White women being the most educated group; therefore, they should have lower unemployment rates. Few will attribute the success of White women to affirmative action.
Yes, affirmative action. White women have been the biggest benefactors of affirmative action. Gender-based affirmative action, affirmatively recruiting women, has allowed women, especially white women, to “leapfrog” men in earning college degrees.
The Intersection of Systemic Racism and the Patriarchy
Gender-based affirmative action is only part of why white women have been the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action. System racism is the other reason.
White women occupy a unique position – the intersection of white privilege, systemic racism, and oppression from the patriarchy. Robin DiAngelo said in a Politico interview:
I have a theory about why it’s benefited white women. Because of course, when you benefit white women you benefit white men. White women tend to be white men’s partners, daughters, sisters. They’re in their orbit. It has been white men who are in the position to decide to enact affirmative action. So if you have to hire somebody, who are you most likely to hire? Someone who reflects you and your interests.
Mic Drop!
Unmasking Inequality
At the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race, we advocate for data disaggregation to unmask the nuances of how systemic racism and classism intersect with the patriarchy to produce and sustain inequality.
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