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

In this "penetrating new analysis" (New York Times Book Review) Ira Katznelson fundamentally recasts our understanding of twentieth-century American history and demonstrates that all the key programs passed during the New Deal and Fair Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s were created in a deeply discriminatory manner. Through mechanisms designed by Southern Democrats that specifically excluded maids and farm workers, the gap between blacks and whites actually widened despite postwar prosperity. In the words of noted historian Eric Foner, "Katznelson's incisive book should change the terms of debate about affirmative action, and about the last seventy years of American history."

About the author

Ira Katznelson is Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University and Research Associate at the Centre for History and Economics, King's College, Cambridge. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, Professor Katznelson has published widely on the history of the western liberal tradition.

Summary

A groundbreaking work that exposes the twisted origins of affirmative action.

Product details

• Authors: Ira Katznelson, Ira (Columbia University) Katznelson, Katznelson Ira
• Publisher: Norton
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2006
• EAN: 9780393328516
• ISBN: 978-0-393-32851-6
• No. of pages: 272
• Weight: 246 g
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Ethnology > Ethnology; USA, Ethnic Studies, 20th Century, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / United States / 20th Century, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Social discrimination & inequality, Social and cultural history, United States of America, USA, History of the Americas, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Race & Ethnic Relations, Racism and racial discrimination / Anti-racism, Social discrimination and social justice, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General