Diversity’s twilight Zone: how affirmative action in education equals ‘discrimination’ in the colorblind era

Abstract

Diversity is a ubiquitous concept in Education. Our contemporary racial discourse has been taken over by diversity talk. That is, to talk about race in the colorblind era in the contexts of school admissions or educational policy is to do so through the language of diversity. However, the hegemonic ascendancy of diversity has been dependent on the demise of affirmative action policies. This inverse relationship is not coincidental. Utilizing Critical Race Theory’s methodology of constructing counter stories, this paper traces the history of diversity from the Supreme Court. By locating the ontological being of diversity from the perspective of the Supreme Court, the author establishes a historical narrative that shows the backward and bifurcated approach of how affirmative action equals racial discrimination in the colorblind era. As a result of this backward approach, diversity talk is widely accepted while affirmative action policies in education have been effectively defeated.