Projects

Affirmative Action Research and Policy Consortium (AARPC)

In 2004, AAPF assembled a small working-group of academics and legal advocates for two complementary purposes. In Part I of the consortium, scholars discussed an appropriate counter-response to an article that suggested that affirmative action actually harms Black students resulting in fewer Black attorneys, rather than expanding opportunity. This article, authored by Richard Sander and published by the Stanford Law Review, purports to offer empirical data that severely undermines and subverts the position of affirmative action advocates who utilize diversity-based justifications to defend affirmative action in institutions of higher education.

In Part II of the consortium, we are working toward collectivizing a research agenda of academic scholarship and resources that can contribute to the development of more robust defenses of affirmative action policies.

In this light, the AARPC’s chief goal is to disseminate the work of academics in a user-friendly format to those directly engaged in litigation, advocacy, and media outreach campaigns nation-wide.

The AARPC takes up on the task of debunking Professor Richard Sander’s mismatch argument, and his claim that there would be more African American lawyers if affirmative action were ended.

You will find below talking points, FAQs, and research that demonstrates, as Professor Cheryl Harris, a colleague of Sander at UCLA Law, puts it "that the career success of thousands of black lawyers produced by affirmative action over the past 30 years is testament to the simple fact that it [affirmative action] works. Indeed, even prominent detractors of affirmative action like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas were launched by it. Test scores ought not to determine destiny, for black students or indeed for any students. It is time to move past discredited arguments that tell us otherwise and get on with the business of expanding, not restricting, educational opportunity."

Talking Points

(See attached file: Sander Talking Points_AA Research & Policy
Consortium_11-23-04.doc)

FAQs on Sander’s Article:

(See attached file: faq_on_sander’s_article.doc)

Articles and Commentary on the Stanford Law Review article
by UCLA Law Professor, Richard Sander

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

From the issue dated April 22, 2005
New Issue of ‘Stanford Law Review’ Will Rebut a Critic of Affirmative Action
By Katherine S. Mangan

From the issue dated January 21, 2005
Affirmative Action and Military Recruiting Spur Debate at Law-School Meeting
By Katherine S. Mangan

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i20/20a01901.htm

From the issue dated December 17, 2004
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The Debate About Affirmative Action

From the issue dated November 12, 2004
Does Affirmative Action Hurt Black Law Students?
A new study that challenges a ‘cherished’ admissions practice has critics lining up for a rebuttal
By Katherine S. Mangan

http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i12/12a03501.htm

Chronicle of Higher Education Colloquy on Sander’s Study:

http://chronicle.com/colloquy/2004/11aa/

Other Sources:

Sunday, December 12, 2004
Special to The Detroit News
Questionable assumptions mar report, which discounts benefits of affirmative action
By David L. Chambers

The Tavis Smiley Show, December 15, 2004
Commentary: Kimberle Crenshaw: Affirmative Action and Black Lawyers

Both proponents and opponents of affirmative action are stirred up by a study that hasn’t even been published yet. Richard Sander, a UCLA law professor, has analyzed the effects of racial preferences in America’s law schools and concludes the net effect is actually fewer black lawyers. Commentator — and Sander’s UCLA law colleague — Kimberle Crenshaw weighs in on the report.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4229609

UCLA TODAY
VOL. 25 NO. 10 FEBRUARY 23, 2005
Preferences hurt black law students …
By Richard Sander
http://www.today.ucla.edu/2005/050223voices_preferences.html

UCLA TODAY
VOL. 25 NO. 10 FEBRUARY 23, 2005
… Or do they? Studies show otherwise
By Cheryl I. Harris
http://www.today.ucla.edu/2005/050223voices_ordothey.html

(See attached file: commentary_liu_12-20-04.doc)(See attached
file:commentary_sander_12-20-04.doc)(See attached file: commentary_harris_12-15-04.doc)

Research Studies on Affirmative Action:

Law & Social Inquiry Journal (Volume 29, Number 4, Fall 2004)
A Forked River Runs Through Law School: Toward Understanding Race, Gender, Age, and Related Gaps in Law School Performance and Bar Passage
By Timothy T. Clydesdale

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/LSI/journal/issues/v29n4/294002/294002.html

Invited Submission to the STANFORD LAW REVIEW, February 2005
The Real Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in American Law Schools:
An Empirical Critique of Richard Sander’s Study
By David L. Chambers, Timothy T. Clydesdale, William C. Kidder and Richard O. Lempert

http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/sander_rebuttal_v5_draft.pdf

Link to the Equal Justice Society’s Research page:
http://www.equaljusticesociety.org/research.html

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (WINTER 2004/2005 105)
The Black Student Mismatch Myth in Legal Education: The Systemic Flaws in
Richard Sander’s Affirmative Action Study
By Cheryl I. Harris and William C. Kidder

(See attached file: Black Student Mixmatch Myth Cheryl Harris & Bill Kidder.pdf)

Affirmative Action Research and Policy Consortium Message Board (password protected)