Curtis Stokes

The Language of Affirmative Action: History, Public Policy and Liberalism

the swirling, often heated debates about the University of Michigans (U-M) affirmative action admissions policies, supporters and detractors alike often argue their points as if affirmative action is a phenomenon that suddenly fell from the sky into the lap of postmodern America. However, affirmative action, at U-M and elsewhere in American institutional life, is a policy developed within particular historical, social, political, and linguistic contexts. This essay seeks to illuminate these contexts by revisiting the socio-historical origins of affirmative action, the ideology that gave rise to it, and the language and discourse within which the policy was framed. The socio-historical roots of affirmative