Affirmative Action Report: Footnotes


Section 1

1 "Affirmative action" enjoys no clear and widely shared definition. This contributes to the confusion and miscommincation surrounding the issue. We begin therefore with a definition:

For purposes of this review, "affirmative action" is any effort taken to expand opportunity for women or racial, ethnic and national origin minorities by using membership in those groups that have been subject to discrimination as a consideration. Measures adopted in court orders or consent decrees, however, were outside the scope of the Review.

For economy of language, in this document the use of the word "race" (e.g., "race-targeted scholarship") also refers to membership in an ethnic group that is disadvantaged because of prejudice and discrimination

2 115 S. Ct. 2097 (1995).

3 See Appendix B of this report.


Section 2

4 NAACP v. Allen, 493 F.2d 614, 621 (1974).

5 DOL memo from Arthur Fletcher to All Agency Heads discussing the revised Philadelphia Plan, 6/27/69.

6 Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon 437 (Grosset and Dunlap: 1978).

7 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265(1978).

8 Chronicle of Higher Education: April 28, 1995.

9 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 1994, NCES 94-115, Table 179.


Section 3

10 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

11 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

12 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

13 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. For a time-series discussion of black/white earnings rations, see Donohue, John and James Heckman, 1991. "Continuous versus Episodic Change: The Impact of Federal Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks," Journal of Economic Literature, 29:1603-43. See also, Bound, John and Richard Freeman, 1989, "Black Economic Progress: Erosion of Black Americans" in The Question of Discrimination.

14 EEOC, Office of Communication, The Status of Equal Opportunityin the American Workforce (1995). For a discussion of empirical evidence on earnings gaps and discrimination for Hispanics, see Gregory DeFreitas, Inequality at Work: Hispanics in the U.S. LaborForce (New York: Oxford Press, 1991).

15 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

16 Rogers, Bill, 1994,"What Does the AFQT Really Measure: Race, Wages, Schooling and the AFQT Score," mimeo., William and Mary. The figures cited here adjust for racial geographic differences.

17 See Card, David and Alan Krueger, 1992, "School Quality and Black-White Relative Earnings: A Direct Assessment." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, p.151-200.

18 An important study that points out the near unanimous opinion among economists of the positive impact of government anti-discrimination programs on improved income of African-Americans is Donohue, John and James Heckman, 1991, "Continuous versus Episodic Change: The Impact of Federal Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks, "Journal of Economic Literature, 29:1603-43. Freeman, Richard, 1973, "Changes in the Labor Market for Black Americans, 1948-72," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, vol. 1 was among the first to identify government anti-discrimination programs as a source of progress.

19 See Blau, Francine and Marianne Ferber, 1992. The Economics of Women, Men and Work, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, p.129.

20 See Blau, Francine, and Lawrence Kahn, 1994, "Rising Wage Inequality and the U.S. Gender Gap." American Economic Review 84:23-28, for a discussion of the large decline in male-female wage differentials that occurred from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s.

21 Department of Education, National Center of Education Statistics.

22 The five studies are: (1) Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "The Impact of Affirmative Action on Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, 2:439-463; (2) Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "Employment and Occupational Advance Under Affirmative Action," The Review of Economics and Statistics; (3) Ashenfelter, Orley and James Heckman, 1976, "Measuring the Effect of an Anti-discrimination Program, in Estimating the Labor Market Effects of Social Programs, Eds: Orley Ashenfelter and James Blum. Princeton NJ: pp.46-89; (4) Heckman, James and Kenneth Wolpin, 1976, "Does the Contract Compliance Program Work? An Analysis of Chicago Data," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 29:544-64; (5) Goldstein, Morris and Robert Smith, 1976, "The Estimated Impact of Anti-discrimination Laws Aimed at Federal Contractors," Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

23 Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "The Impact of Affirmative Action Regulation and Equal Employment Law on Black Employment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4:47-64.

24 See above studies plus Donohue and Heckman, Continuous versus Episodic, 29, Journal of Economic Literature, p.1631.

25 For a full discussion of the impact of weakened affirmative action enforcement during the 1980s, see Leonard, Jonathan, 1990, "The Impact of Affirmative Action Regulation and Equal Employment Law on Black Employment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4:47-64.

26 For a discussion of the impact of affirmative action on minority employment in skilled positions, see Leonard 1990, The Impact of Affirmative . . . .," 4 J. of Econ. Perspectives 47.

27 See Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "Anti-discrimination or Reverse Discrimination: The Impact of Changing Demographics, Title VII and Affirmative Action on Productivity," Journal of Human Resources, vol. 19, No.2, pp.145-74.


Section 4

28 "Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital", A Fact-Finding Report of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, March 1995.

29 Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, "Income, Poverty and Valuation of Noncash Benefits 1993."

30 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1994 Fact Sheet.

31 Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital (March 1995).

32 See, e.g., Neumark, David and Roy Blank and Kyle Van Nort, 1995, "Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring: An Audit Study," NBER Working Paper No. 5024.

33 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

34 EEOC, Office of Communications, The Status of Equal Opportunity in the American Workforce (1995).

35 U.S. General Accounting Office, Immigration Reform: Employer Sanctions and the Question of Discrimination, Report to the Congress, GAO/GGD-90-62, March 1990, p. 48.

36 David Neumark, et. al. Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring: An Audit Study, Working Paper No. 5024, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. (February 1995).

37 Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital (March 1995).

38 Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1994 Fact Sheet.

39 Gregory DeFreitas, Inequality at Work: Hispanics in the U.S. Labor Forces (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), Chapter 4.

40 A Report of the Study Group on Affirmative Action to the House Committee on Education and Labor (1987).

41 Andrew Hacker, Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal Ballantine Books (1992).

42 1990 Census data as compiled by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (1995).

43 U.S. Bureau of the Census, The Black Population in the United States: March 1994 and 1993 (1995); U.S. Bureau of the Census, Characteristics of the Black Population (1995).

44 EEOC, Office of Communications, The Status of Equal Opportunity in the American Workforce (1995) (Data supplied by the National Committee on Pay Equity).

45 Robert Wood, Mary Corcoran and Paul Courant, "Pay Differentials Among the Highly Paid: The Male-Female Earnings Gap in Lawyer's Salaries," Journal of Labor Economics (July, 1993).


Section 5

46 This taxonomy is not intended to suggest which programs may warrant strict scrutiny pursuant to Adarand.

47 Such "hard" set-asides have included the Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship (20 U.S.C. 1134D-G) and the Women and Minorities in Graduate Education (20 U.S.C. 1134A).


Section 6

48 15 U.S.C. sec. 637 (a)(1),(4).

49 Roughly 80 percent of reviews are "triggered by"computer- based selection system.

50 41 C.F.R. § 60-2.12(e).

51 The five studies are: (1) Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "The Impact of Affirmative Action on Employment," Journal of Labor Economics, 2:439-463; (2) Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "Employment and Occupational Advance Under Affirmative Action," The Review of Economics and Statistics; (3) Ashenfelter, Orley and James Heckman, 1976, "Measuring the Effect of an Anti-discrimination Program, in Estimating the Labor Market Effects of Social Programs, Eds: Orley Ashenfelter and James Blum. Princeton NJ: pp.46-89; (4) Heckman, James and Kenneth Wolpin, 1976, "Does the Contract Compliance Program Work? An Analysis of Chicago Data," Industrial and Labor Relations Review 29:544-64; (5) Goldstein, Morris and Robert Smith, 1976, "The Estimated Impact of Anti-discrimination Laws Aimed at Federal Contractors," Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

52 Leonard, Jonathan, 1984, "The Impact of Affirmative Action Regulation and Equal Employment Law on Black Employment," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4:47-64.

53 See above studies plus Donohue and Heckman, Continuous versus Episodic, 29, Journal of Economic Literature, p.1631.


Section 7

54 The Pentagon tends not to use "diversity" and rarely uses "affirmative action." The preferred term is "equal opportunity." Insofar as bias and prejudice persist, effective equal opportunity strategies will often entail affirmative action.

55 Distribution of Active Duty Forces Report, DMDC 3035, March 1995.


Section 8


Section 9

56 See, for example: "Historically there has been an acute shortage of equity capital and long-term debt for small concerns owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals." S. Rep. No. 95-1070, 95th Cong., at 3 (1978) (Amendments to the Small Business Investment Act of 1958, P.L. 95-507 (1978)).

57 "Congress had before it, among other data, evidence of a long history of marked disparity in the percentage of public contracts awarded to minority business enterprises. This disparity was considered to result not from any lack of capable and qualified minority businesses, but from the existence and maintenance of barriers to competitive access which had their roots in racial discrimination, and which continue today, even absent any intentional discrimination or other unlawful conduct." Fullilove v. Klutznick, 448 U.S. 448, 478 (1979).

58 Fullilove, 448 U.S. at 466 n.48, quoting H.R. Rep. No. 1791, 94th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 182 (1977).

59 Ibid. As Gunnar Myrdal wrote in 1944:

The Negro businessman encounters greater difficulties than whites in securing credit. This is partially due to the marginal position of Negro business. It is also partly due to prejudicial opinions among whites concerning business ability and personal reliability of Negroes. In either case a vicious circle is in operation keeping Negro business down.

Myrdal, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, Harper and Bros., 6th Ed., p. 308.

60 Fullilove, 448 U.S. at 467.

61 Id. at 459.

62 See, e.g., H.R. 5612, To Amend the Small Business Act to extend the Current SBA 8(a) Pilot Program: Hearing on H.R. 5612, Before the Senate Select Comm. on Small Business, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980); Small and Minority Business in the Decade of the 1980's (part 1): Hearings Before the House Comm. on Small Business, 97th Cong., 1st Sess. (1981); Minority Business and Its Contribution to the U.S. Economy: Hearing Before the Senate Comm. on Small Business, 97th Cong. 2d Sess. (1982); Federal Contracting Opportunities for Minority and Women-Owned Businesses--An Examination of the 8(d) Subcontracting Program: Hearings Before the Senate Comm. on Small Business, 98th Congress., 2d Sess. (1984); State of Hispanic Small Business in America: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise and General Small Business Problems of the House of the House Comm. on Small Business, 99th Congress., 1st Sess. (1985); Disadvantaged Business Set-Asides in Transportation Construction Projects: Hearings Before the Subcomm. on Procurement, Innovation, and Minority Enterprise Development of the House Comm. on Small Business, 100th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1988) Barriers to Full Minority Participation in Federally Funded Highway Construction Projects: Hearing's Before a Subcomm. of the House Comm. on Government Operations, 100th Cong., 2d Sess. (1988) [hereinafter 1988 Barriers Hearing]; Surety Boand Minority Contractors: hearing Before the Subcomm. on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness of the House Comm. on Energy and Commerce, 100th Cong. 2d Sess. (1988) (examining difficulties that minority-owned businesses experience in getting private sector bonding)Small Business Problems: Hearings Before the House Comm. on Small Business, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. (1987).

63 H.R. Rep. No. 460, 100th Cong., 1st Sess. 18 1987.

64 Ibid.

65 United States Commission on Minority Business Development, Final Report, at 6 (1992)

66 United States Commission on Minority Business Development, Final Report (1992), developed from data provided by U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.

67 The study, released on July 12, 1995, was conducted by Dr. William C. Hunter of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. It involved an analysis of 1,991 loan applications and concluded that there was no evidence of discrimination in comparing well qualified black and white applicants, but there was a statistically significant disparity for marginal applicants. The author attributes the result to affinity between loan officers and white borrowers.

68 For further discussion, See, e.g. Timothy Bates., "The Potential of Black Capitalism." Public Policy 21 (Winter 1973); and, generally, Timothy Bates, Major Studies of Minority Business, A Bibliographic Review), Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (1995).

69 United States Commission on Minority Business Development, Final Report, p. 4 (1992)

70 "The State of Small Business," A Report to the President, p.63 (1993).

71 The goal for women was added in the 1994 procurement reform legislation, the Federal Acquisition and Simplification Act. Racial minorities are presumed to be "socially disadvantaged" for purposes of the government-wide SDB program, mirroring the statutory presumption in the SBA's §8(a) program described below.

72 Congress first codified the §8(a) program in 1978. The earlier regulation-based program keyed eligibility to either group status or economic disadvantage. Congress and the Carter Administration chose to require that both conditions be satisfied in order to focus the program on victims of group-based discrimination and to ensure that all beneficiaries were economically disadvantaged. 15 U.S.C. § 637(a)(1), (4).

73 15 U.S.C. § 636(j)(15).

74 10 U.S.C. 2323

75 See, Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, Pub. L. 97-424, 96 Stat. 2100 (Jan. 6, 1983) [STAA]; superseded by Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100-17, 101 Stat. 132 [STURAA]; Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.

76 15 U.S.C. § 644(g); Federal Acquisition Regulation, 8 C.F.R. § 52.219-8.

77 "Small" varies with the industry, but the maximum number of employees varies between 500 and 1500. See Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 19.102. The DOD wealth test is personal assets not more than $750,000, excluding business assets and personal residence.

78 49 C.F.R. part 23; 48 C.F.R. § 52.219-8.

79 The full effect of federal procurement affirmative action is found in the "ripple effect" - diminished discrimination at the state and local level, and in the private sector. Such measurement is inherently difficult.

80 See, e.g., GAO/RCED 94-168 (August, 1994), at pp. 24-25.

81 See, T. Bates, "Do Black-Owned Businesses Employ Minority Workers? New Evidence," Review of Black Political Economy 51 (Spring 1988) (research by Professor Timothy Bates, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI., based on 1987 census data).

82 Census data indicate that of all small businesses formed in 1976-78, less than 30 percent survived 6 to 8 years; data for 1982-87 indicate that only 42 percent of black-owned firms survive five years. See, The State of Small Business: A Report to the President 214-15 (1993).

83 See, Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Minority Business Development (Dec. 1992).

84 See, Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Minority Business Development 51 (Dec. 1992).

85 SBA measures economic disadvantage in a three-part test: the individual's net worth, the financial condition of the company, and the company's access to credit. For entry into the program, personal adjusted net worth cannot exceed $250,000; during the developmental stage of the program (the first four years), it cannot exceed $500,000; and during the transition stage (the last five years), it cannot exceed $750,000. In a September 1994 audit of 50 larger §8(a) firms, the SBA Inspector General found that 35 of the 50 owners had a net worth in excess of $1 million; 13 of the owners, for example, had business equity ranging from $1 to $9 million; five owners had personal residences valued at between $800,000 and $1.4 million. See Audit Report on §8(a) Program Continuing Eligibility Reviews, Report No. 4-3-H-006-021 ("1994 Audit Report") at 7-9 (Sept. 30, 1994).

86 Testimony by Cassandra Pulley, Deputy Administrator, unveiling the Administration's proposed §8(a) reforms, 1995, S721-1:1:August 9, 1994.

87 See, T. Bates, "Do Black-Owned Businesses Employ Minority Workers? New Evidence," Review of Black Political Economy 51 (Spring 1988) (research by Professor Timothy Bates, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI., based on 1987 census data).

88 The actual 12 month participation rate for MBE's following the 1993 implementation was 17.7 percent.

89 Even where one statute seems to speak commandingly of a rigid numerical set aside, it elsewhere gives the agency head authority to waive or modify the numerical target as appropriate. See, Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1992, Pub. L. 97-424, 6 Stat. 2100 (Jan. 6, 1983) [STAA]; superseded by Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, Pub. L. 100-17, Stat. 132 [STURAA]. Read together, these provisions amount to the usual kind of flexible goal, though with a pointed Congressional emphasis suggesting that the Secretary of Transportation would be expected to defend carefully a decision to set lesser ambitions.


Section 10

90 42 U.S.C. § 293a(b).

91 57 Fed. Reg. 8347 (1992).

92 Institute of Medicine, Balancing the Scales of Opportunity: Ensuring Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Health Professions, p. 16; Huckman, Beverly B. and Rattenbury, Bruce, "The Need to Bring More Minority Students into Medicine," American Medical News, 35 (29), p. 39-41 (1992); Nickens, H.W., "The Rationale for Minority-Targeted Programs in Medicine in the 1990s," Journal of the American Medical Association, 267 (17); p. 2390-95 (1992); Council on Graduate Medical Education, Third Report: Improving Access to Health Care Through Physician Workforce Reform: Directions for the 21st Century, p. 13, 19-21 (1992).

93 Nazario, Sonia, "Treating Doctors for Prejudice; Medical Schools Are Trying to Sensitize Students to 'Bedside Bias,'" Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20, 1993; Blendon, Robert J., Aiken, Linda H., Freeman, Howard E., and Corey, Christopher R., Access to Medical Care for Black and White Americans," Journal of the American Medical Association, 261,

p. 280 (1989).

94 Lillie-Blanton, Marsha and Hoffman, Sandra C., "Conducting an Assessment of Health Needs and Resources in a Racial/Ethnic Minority Community," Health Services Research, 30 (1), p. 229 (1995). This article references the Tuskegee Institute study as leaving a legacy of mistrust, particularly in African American communities, of research.

95 Institute of Medicine, Op. Cit., p. 19; COGME, Op. Cit., p. 29.

96 42 U.S.C. § 293a(b)(2).

97 See "Higher Education: Information on Minority-Targeted Scholarships" United States General Accounting Office, Pp. 68-71 (1994).

98 Ibid., 71-76.

99 Ibid., 82-88.

100 38 F.3d 147 (1994), cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 2001 (1995).


Section 11

101 Metro Broadcasting v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547 (1990).

102 47 U.S.C. §309(j)(4)(C), (D).

103 958 F.2d 382 (D.C. Cir. 1992).

104 26 U.S.C. § 1071.

105 FCC, "Representation of Minorities and Women Among FCC Auction Winners" (4/17/95).

106 Statement of William Kennard, General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, before the Senate Committee on Finance, March 7, 1995, at 10; Statement of William Kennard, General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission, before the House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, Jan. 27, 1995 at 11.

107 Federal Communications Commission, "Summary of FCC Tax Certificate Data," at 4 (Data as of 2/28/95).

108 See Moore v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 993 F.2d 1222 (5th Cir. 1993) ("One wonders what substantial relation to an important interest is satisfied in operating, if that is what happened, a government program for the sale of agricultural land with a racial criterion this crude").

109 7 U.S.C. § 2003(a)(1).

110 7 U.S.C. § 2003(d).


Index