When Affirmative Action Was White - An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America

With this explosive analysis, Ira Katznelson fundamentally recast our understanding of twentieth-century American history, demonstrating that the key programs passed during the New Deal and Fair Deal eras were not, as we are so often told, fundamentally equitable or impartial, but discriminatory in the way they deliberately excluded African Americans from benefits. In fact, Katznelson writes, the gap between black and white Americans actually widened following this period, owing, in no small part, to the segregationist designs of southern Democrats. Now featuring a new introduction that situates this saga within the wider context of twentieth- and twenty-first-century history, When Affirmative Action Was White remains, tragically, as salient as ever, providing both a "painful understanding of how politics and race intersect" (Henry Louis Gates Jr.) and a broad justification for continuing affirmative action programs.

About the author

Ira Katznelson is Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University and Deputy Director of Columbia World Projects. A former president of the American Political Science Association, he is the author of many celebrated books, including Fear Itself, winner of the Bancroft Prize in History.

Summary

The ground-breaking, “provocative” ( The New York Times Book Review) work that exposed the racially discriminatory precursors of affirmative action, now updated with a new introduction

Product details

• Authors: Ira Katznelson, Ira (Columbia University) Katznelson, Katznelson Ira
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 06.04.2023
• EAN: 9781324051084
• ISBN: 978-1-324-05108-4
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 211 mm x 18 mm
• Weight: 211 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; USA, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Minority Studies, 20th Century, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Social discrimination & inequality, United States of America, USA, Ethnic groups and multicultural studies, History of the Americas, Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Biracial & Multiracial Studies, Social discrimination and social justice