Memories of Lincoln and the Splintering of American Political Thought

Abstract

shift from equality in wider public discourse about race. The book follows the movement of public arguments and ideologies through the process of collaborative invention as they funnel finally into Powell’s holding opinion. However, there is little discussion of how Powell’s opinion or its transformation of diversity influenced or was taken up in American discourse about race, even though such an impact is likely present. In essence, the analysis never shows how the funnel widened back out. The instrumental and constitutive effects are followed only to the opinion’s citation in subsequent Court cases. The conclusion deals with later cases and cites scholars who argue that Bakke helped shape admissions guidelines, but the reader is left looking for the inverse of chapter one’s excellent analysis of broad public arguments and their influence on the case. That may be a tall order for a conclusion that must also account for the material and legal legacies of the Bakke decision, but one might reasonably question whether the shift from equality to diversity that Carr articulates carried through in American discourse more broadly or remained where the analysis shows it: the discourse of appellate law. None of this detracts from the project’s value nor weakens its insights. Indeed, Carr’s analysis is a superb illustration of the potential of rhetorical history to uncover the promise and peril of what Zarefsky calls “roads not taken.” In legal precedent and argumentative grounds, Carr shows us how the diversity rationale came to be and what was lost with that pragmatic compromise. Scholars interested in legal rhetoric, race and law, and diversity discourse in the U.S. context will find this book particularly valuable as will anyone teaching about diversity in higher education, ideas of merit, or legal decision-making and argumentation. The Court may soon again revisit the question of affirmative action in higher education and Carr’s project will productively inform scholarly attempts to understand what comes next.