Protesting Affirmative Action: The Struggle over Equality after the Civil Rights Revolution (Reconfiguring American Political History) - Softcover

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Dennis Deslippe is an associate professor of American studies at Franklin & Marshall College and author of Rights, Not Roses: Unions and the Rise of Working-Class Feminism, 1945–80.

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A lightning rod for liberal and conservative opposition alike, affirmative action has proved one of the more divisive issues in the United States over the past five decades. Dennis Deslippe offers a thoughtful study of early opposition to the nation’s race- and gender-sensitive hiring and promotion programs in the workplace, including higher education.

Deslippe traces the conflict through compelling case studies of real people and real jobs. He asks what the introduction of affirmative action meant to the careers and livelihoods of Seattle steelworkers, New York asbestos handlers, St. Louis firemen, Detroit policemen, City University of New York academics, and admissions counselors at the University of Washington Law School. Through their experiences, Deslippe examines the diverse reactions to affirmative action, concluding that workers had legitimate grievances against its hiring and promotion practices.

"A welcome examination of affirmative action opposition in the often-overlooked period before Bakke."—Choice

"It is difficult to think of a more timely historical topic: persistent ambivalence about affirmative action again collides with an economic downturn as an increasingly conservative Supreme Court considers landmark cases that may resolve some legal questions but are unlikely to end the almost half-century-old moral and political debate."—Journal of American Studies

"Deslippe's treatment of labor's resistance in particular is balanced, detailed, and nuanced, and he includes an excellent chapter on the precursor of Bakke, DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974) . . . A valuable discussion that clearly adds to the scholarship on this crucial subject."—Journal of American History

"Ambitious and timely."—Labor Studies Journal

"Treats the very important subject of affirmative action in a way that respects the various participants in the debate and in a manner that illuminates a critical part of recent American history."—Edward D. Berkowitz, George Washington University

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A lightning rod for liberal and conservative opposition alike, affirmative action has proved one of the more divisive issues in the United States over the past five decades. Dennis Deslippe offers a thoughtful study of early opposition to the nation's race- and gender-sensitive hiring and promotion programs in the workplace, including higher education.

Deslippe traces the conflict through compelling case studies of real people and real jobs. He asks what the introduction of affirmative action meant to the careers and livelihoods of Seattle steelworkers, New York asbestos handlers, St. Louis firemen, Detroit policemen, City University of New York academics, and admissions counselors at the University of Washington Law School. Through their experiences, Deslippe examines the diverse reactions to affirmative action, concluding that workers had legitimate grievances against its hiring and promotion practices.

A welcome examination of affirmative action opposition in the often-overlooked period before Bakke.--Choice

It is difficult to think of a more timely historical topic: persistent ambivalence about affirmative action again collides with an economic downturn as an increasingly conservative Supreme Court considers landmark cases that may resolve some legal questions but are unlikely to end the almost half-century-old moral and political debate.--Journal of American Studies

Deslippe's treatment of labor's resistance in particular is balanced, detailed, and nuanced, and he includes an excellent chapter on the precursor of Bakke, DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974) . . . A valuable discussion that clearly adds to the scholarship on this crucial subject.--Journal of American History

Ambitious and timely.--Labor Studies Journal

Treats the very important subject of affirmative action in a way that respects the various participants in the debate and in a manner that illuminates a critical part of recent American history.--Edward D. Berkowitz, George Washington University