ABSTRACT

This chapter deals with some of the important questions raised as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in Richmond v. Croson. On the Supreme Court, Justice Rehnquist had been advancing a similar position through an interpretation of what the civil rights movement itself had for its goals. The chapter aims to specify where the Court stands on affirmative action. Justice Marshall’s dissent in Richmond v. Croson called the majority’s decision overturning the Richmond set-aside ordinance a “deliberate and giant step backward in the Court’s affirmative action jurisprudence. Many of the affirmative action cases represent an attempt by conservative forces to utilize the courts in order to contest policies that black leadership pursued either as a result of electoral success or as a consequence of negotiations with corporate America. The black majority that was elected in 1977 and was returned in the regular election of 1978 immediately demonstrated its commitment to changing Richmond politics.