This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by GRAHAM, H. D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Unintended Consequences

The Convergence of Affirmative Action and Immigration Policy

Vanderbilt University

In the 1990s, political opposition in the United States rose against two government policies not previously linked in policy rationale or public debate: affirmative action preferences and large-scale immigration. Historically, reform movements in civil rights and immigration policy had differed significantly in their coalition base, reformist goals, rationales for government intervention, patterns of agency implementation, and communities of policy expertise. Yet both reform drives, sharing common foundations in liberal nondiscrimination theory and constitutional tradition, won major legislative victories in the 1960s. These laws produced unintended consequences: hard affirmative action programs involving minority preferences and mass immigration from developing nations. Immigrants were participating increasingly as minorities eligible for affirmative action remedies originally developed to compensate African Americans for past discrimination under slavery and segregation. These consequences help to explain the rise of intraminority tensions and White native opposition.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. D. SKRENTNY Introduction: Affirmative Action: Some Advice for the Pundits American Behavioral Scientist, April 1, 1998; 41(7): 877 - 885.

				G. R. LA NOUE and J. C. SULLIVAN Deconstructing the Affirmative Action Categories American Behavioral Scientist, April 1, 1998; 41(7): 913 - 926. [Abstract]

				J. LEE Cultural Brokers: Race-Based Hiring in Inner-City Neighborhoods American Behavioral Scientist, April 1, 1998; 41(7): 927 - 937. [Abstract]

				E. KELLY and F. DOBBIN How Affirmative Action Became Diversity Management: Employer Response to Antidiscrimination Law, 1961 to 1996 American Behavioral Scientist, April 1, 1998; 41(7): 960 - 984. [Abstract]