ABSTRACT
Duncan Kennedy argues against a position he terms "color-blind meritocratic fundamentalism." The sharing of wealth and power that occur automatically, so to speak, through the melting pot, the market, and meritocracy are not enough, according to this notion. At a minimum, cultural pluralism means that people should structure the competition of racial and ethnic communities and social classes in markets and bureaucracies, and in the political system, in such way that no community or class is systematically subordinated. The standards that law schools apply in deciding whom to hire and whom to promote function to exclude scholars from cultural communities with a history of subordination. The possibility of dramatically improving legal scholarship provides a second strong reason for a massive affirmative action program. It is not just that there is no tradeoff between quality and affirmative action. Dissociating some hiring and promotion decisions from any particular set of credentials undermines everyone's sense that one's true being is one's academic capital.
