1 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: Up to now, we focused on the origins of the 2 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: racial wealth gap, how Black people have been consistently excluded 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: from building wealth and ensuring their own financial stability since 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: the end of slavery. Today, we're going to look at 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: one of the first attempts to address the disparities to 6 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: make America a more equal society, to level the playing field. 7 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: We're talking about affirmative action and education. This starts more 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: or less in September with an executive order that makes 9 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: new rules for federal contractors. It's not enough to not 10 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: discriminate that's already illegal. The order says it's time to 11 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: ensure no one's being left out. President Lyndon Johnson was 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: clear about his rationale here. He is speaking at graduation 13 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: at Howard University, the historically black college in Washington, d C. 14 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: You do not take a person who for a year 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: has been hobbled by change and liberating bringing up to 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: the starting line of a race, and then say you 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: are free to compete with all the others and still 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: justly believe that you have been completely fair. That's the 19 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: theory behind affirmative action. It was the idea that it 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: took work to unlock opportunity in a more equitable way. 21 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: Black people in particular were entitled to additional consideration. This 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: did two big things. One, it set aside government contracts 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: to minority owned businesses. It also radically changed college admissions. 24 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: Colleges and universities tweaked their admissions policies to enroll more 25 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: African Americans and other minorities. Five years after Johnson signs 26 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:56,440 Speaker 1: that executive order, roughly of colleges and universities have some 27 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: kind of affirmative action in place, and black student enrollment 28 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: was going up. So in that regard, it's working, but 29 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: it's not universally popular. Far too many affirmative action programs 30 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: divide rather than unite. Our children and grandchildren feel no 31 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 1: responsibility for the conduct of their ancestors and the mistakes 32 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: of America's past, and that is as it should be. 33 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: A black California businessman named Ward Connorly waged war on 34 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: affirmative action in his state. Connorley was also a regent 35 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: in the University of California system, and he was the 36 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: driving force behind Proposition too oh nine, California ballot initiative 37 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: to end affirmative action in the state. That's not what 38 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: the text of the ballot initiatives said, though in fact 39 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: it didn't even mention affirmative action by name. It instead 40 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: framed it as anti discrimination section the state shall not 41 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: discriminate against or grant refferential treatment to any individual or 42 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or 43 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, 44 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:18,519 Speaker 1: or public contracting the preferential treatment it refers to. That's 45 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: what would be the death knell for affirmative action. Connorly 46 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: acknowledged that those kinds of measures had been necessary, but 47 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: he argued it wasn't anymore. It had gone from being 48 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,639 Speaker 1: a transitional remedy to an entitlement, a crutch that had 49 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: outlived its usefulness for black people in our reliance on 50 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: affirmative action. The time has indeed come to let go. 51 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: We cannot forever look through the rear view mirror at 52 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: America's mistakes. We must look through the windshield at its opportunities. 53 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: It was a radical position for a black man to take. 54 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: Civil rights groups roundly opposed the measure. Connor Ley said 55 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: he was called an uncle Tom, a lackey, and a sellout, 56 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: but he won. Prop To nine passed with of the vote, 57 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: including Connorley with later brag of the black vote. By 58 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: the late nineties, affirmative action in California public universities was dead. 59 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: California's is the premier laboratory for testing this experiment. If 60 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: this experiment works in California, my friends, it works anywhere. 61 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:34,239 Speaker 1: It fails in California, its failure can be predicted throughout 62 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: the land. The United States was about to find out whether, 63 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: as Connorley said, the experiment worked. The data shows that 64 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: the median white family has ten times more wealth than 65 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: the average black family. One of the drivers of that 66 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: wealth gap is redlining. When it comes to understanding financial 67 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: inequality in this country, economists often point to the absence 68 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: of African American generational wealth. See the pleasant a plant 69 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: walk from California to Night a picture of how the 70 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: nation's largest university system may be transformed. Now that it's 71 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: a pervative action program is going to be ended. It's 72 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: a trend propelled not just by economic forces, but by 73 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: white racism and local white political and economic power. It's 74 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: much easier to integrate a lunch counter than it is 75 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: to guarantee an annual income, for instance, to get rid 76 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: of poverty. Welcome back to the paycheck. I'm Jackie Simmons 77 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: and I am Rebecca Greenfield. The difference economically between having 78 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: a college degree and not having one is huge. For 79 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: full time, year round workers in their mid twenties and thirties, 80 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: having at least a bachelor's degree is worth an extra 81 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,719 Speaker 1: twenty three thousand dollars a year in income, even taking 82 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: student debt into account. More education predicts higher incomes and 83 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: more wealth at every level. For one, it opens up 84 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: more better paying job opportunities. College graduates make more money 85 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: than people with a high school degree or even just 86 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: some college. People with a graduate degree make more money 87 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: than college grads. It's not just jobs. People with a 88 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: college or advanced degree are more likely to get benefits 89 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: like health insurance through their work, which adds an extra 90 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: layer of financial security. Experts also believe more education leads 91 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: to better financial decision making, so people are making more 92 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: money and they're making better choices with it. There's another 93 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: reason black families seek out a college education. My father 94 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: is very keenly aware of the difficulty of just simply 95 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: being black. You know, had an opportunity to to learn 96 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: to read, write, to do those things that will make 97 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: them competitive at least to fight back. He would fight back, 98 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: but you know, you could always be dismissed because you 99 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: couldn't do something or whatever it was. So he always 100 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: taught us it was important to get an education. That's 101 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: Shirley Webber. She's had a long career in California higher 102 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: education and politics. In January, she was sworn in as 103 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: a Secretary of State. She's a huge defender of affirmative 104 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: action and says it was critical to her success at 105 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: every point in her academic career. Without that extra step, 106 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: you know, I may would have done okay in life, 107 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: but I doubt if I would have if I would 108 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: have gotten a PhD by the time I was twenty six, 109 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: and I doubt if I would have been a professor 110 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: at the age I would have been struggling trying to 111 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: figure out what I was gonna do and how I 112 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: was going to do it. That extra opportunity helped to 113 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: get me to a level that I could actually excel, 114 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: you know, demonstrate that I could do those things despite 115 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: the fact coming from a very poor background. So my 116 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,239 Speaker 1: first contact with affirmative action was really myself. Many black 117 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: professionals probably benefited from some kind of affirmative action. I 118 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: might have two. I graduated in the late eighties and 119 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: applied to a million schools, including some in California, and 120 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: was told race might be one factor that could help 121 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,440 Speaker 1: me get a second look. I can't definitively say it 122 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: worked or not, but fast forward thirty years, I've definitely 123 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: had my share of professional success. Kelsey Butler is a 124 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: reporter at Bloomberg. She applied to college about fifteen years 125 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: after I did. Hey, Kelsey, Hi Jackie. So if I 126 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: understand you weren't very comfortable thinking of yourself as having 127 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 1: benefited from affirmative action, is that right? Yeah, that's true. 128 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: I mean it's complicated because you know, when I applied 129 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: to college in two thousand five, being black and Latina, 130 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,559 Speaker 1: it might have been something that got me a second 131 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: look or even got me in the door with admissions officers. 132 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: I honestly have no idea, but I feel like since then, 133 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: in a lot of majority white spaces, you know, the 134 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: term affirmative action higher or you're here because of affirmative 135 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: action has been almost used as like a jab against me, 136 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: and it kind of sours you almost on the concept 137 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time while reporting this listening 138 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: to all the arguments against affirmative action, lots of tape, 139 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: lots of recordings. I thought a lot about the racist 140 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: roots of a lot of the arguments against affirmative action, 141 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: and also kind of made me think about, well, if 142 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: it didn't exist, then what really is there? You know, 143 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: the doors to a lot of institutions would be closed 144 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: to a lot of people. And is my discomfort you know, 145 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: someone saying something ignorant? It seems really small when you 146 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: think about it that way. One of the problems with 147 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: affirmative action does it gives certain people a leg up, 148 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: maybe without them even knowing. And some people think that's unfair, 149 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: even if it is creating a more level playing field. 150 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: But what happens when that leg up goes away? Does 151 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: that make things more fair? When California put a hard 152 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: stop to affirmative action with Prop two and nine, it 153 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,960 Speaker 1: did do what connor Ley said, It's set up a 154 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: huge experiment. The state had three decades of strong affirmative 155 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: action measures and then all of a sudden it didn't. 156 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: We asked Kelsey to find some answers about what that 157 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: meant for black wealth. So Kelsey, Where do we start 158 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,479 Speaker 1: well in terms of getting black students to college, Affirmative 159 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: action definitely worked. In five only four point seven percent 160 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: of African American adults had four more years of college 161 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: education according to the U S Census. It starts to 162 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: go up pretty quickly after that, especially when you consider 163 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: it typically takes at least four years to earn a 164 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: bachelor's By nineteen eighty, eight point four percent of Black 165 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: adults have a degree, almost double within fifteen years and 166 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 1: another fifteen years, so by a little more than thirteen 167 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: percent of Black adults have a four year degree or higher. 168 00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: And that's before Prop. Two oh nine, Right, yeah, And 169 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: actually in California the numbers are slightly higher. By seventeen 170 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: point five percent of African Americans have a college degree 171 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,079 Speaker 1: or higher. Another way to put it is, in about 172 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: thirty years, the number of Black adult in California with 173 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: a four year degree has gone from about one in 174 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: seventeen to better than one in six And this was 175 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: after some of the earliest affirmative action measures had been 176 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: watered down. What do you mean by water down? Well, 177 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: Originally some institutions used a straight quota system, setting aside 178 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: a certain number of seats for black and Hispanic students 179 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: until nineteen seventy seven and the U. S. Supreme Court 180 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: case known as the Baki case. Baki was Alan Baki, 181 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: a white man and an aspiring doctor. He wanted to 182 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,959 Speaker 1: go to medical school at U C. Davis in VY three. 183 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: The school was new and the student body was overwhelmingly white, 184 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: so they decided to set aside seats for applicants they 185 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 1: called disadvantage, basically a euphemism for minorities. Baki had good 186 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: MCAT scores and his interviewer described him as a well 187 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: qualified candidate, but he didn't get in. He complained about 188 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,760 Speaker 1: what he thought was a reverse discrimination and was encouraged 189 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: to apply again, and he was rejected a second time, 190 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: so he sued and his case made its way to 191 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,079 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. Six of the nine justices wrote opinions 192 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: in the case, and when you look at them, it's 193 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: really clear how divided they are. Some of um said 194 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: race based quotas were clearly unconstitutional. Others said it was 195 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 1: ridiculous to require schools to ignore racing admissions because of 196 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: how black people had been held back throughout US history, 197 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 1: and what was the controlling opinion Justice Lewis Powell tried 198 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: to bridge the divide. He said, if there's a quote 199 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: compelling state interests, race can be considered. In my view, 200 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: the only state interests that fairly may be viewed as 201 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:31,439 Speaker 1: compelling on this record is the interest of a university 202 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: in a diverse student body. The court didn't strike down 203 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: all affirmative action. In fact, Powell quotes the admissions policy 204 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: at Harvard as an example of university that's doing it right. 205 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: He even attached a copy of the policy to his opinion. 206 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: But you see Davis was doing it wrong. Yeah, basically 207 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: because they'd set aside these rigid quotas. There were sixteen 208 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: seats out of a hundred that were essentially off limits 209 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: to white people. But you c Davis can rethink its policy, 210 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: which Powell practically exem to do. Yet the way is 211 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: open Todavis to adapt. The type of admissions program proved 212 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: to be successful in so many of the universities and 213 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: colleges of our country. So within ten years, basically quotas 214 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: are out. That's interesting because it seems like that's what 215 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: most people think of when they think of affirmative action. Yeah, 216 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,640 Speaker 1: that's a popular misconception for most of its history. It's 217 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: not that at all, At least in college admissions. It's 218 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: much more flexible. Powell's decision does something else that's really important. 219 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: He basically wipes out Lyndon Johnson's rationale for affirmative action 220 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: undoing general racial discrimination or imbalance. That's not a compelling interest. 221 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 1: The only justification he allows is the diversity argument. So 222 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: colleges are allowed to consider race. Yes, but here's the difference. 223 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: Where before colleges were allowed to have quotas, now they're 224 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: allowed to consider race as one factor in pursuit of 225 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: diverse city and the student body. Most colleges worked within 226 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: these new parameters, adding race onto a bunch of other 227 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: admissions criteria. It was no longer the only factor, or 228 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: even the predominant one, but it was still very explicitly considered. 229 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: At California public schools, for example, black and Hispanic students 230 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 1: had lower s A T score and g p A 231 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: cutoffs for admissions. At places like Harvard, race is one 232 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: factor of many that the school considers when letting students in. 233 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: Black student enrollment drops for a bit, but then it 234 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: continues to pick up. Even at U C. Davis Medical School, 235 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: the overall minority student admit rate is higher five years 236 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: after BAKY than it was in the five years before. 237 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: By the case against affirmative action has a new twist. 238 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,120 Speaker 1: There was the controversial idea of protecting white people from 239 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: the threat of reverse discrimination, but now it's also about 240 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: asserting that black people no longer need a leg up 241 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: or extra consideration of any kind. We've made it. That's 242 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: the argument connorally makes the support Prop to OH nine. 243 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: It's passage created an opportunity to find out whether he 244 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: was right. Maybe we black people didn't need affirmative action 245 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: after all. Since Prop TU and I took effect in 246 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: the nineties, researchers have been looking at these questions, and 247 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: enough time has passed if they think they have some answers. 248 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: Zachary Bloomer is a PhD candidate and economics at the 249 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: University of California, Berkeley. He looked at the impact of 250 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: the law on black and brown students. We can compare 251 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: the longer run outcomes of black and Latino university applicants 252 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: in the years just before when affirmative action was still 253 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: in place to the years just after when affirmative action 254 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: had ended. We're just gonna follow those cohorts of students 255 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: along over the next ten, fifteen, or even twenty years 256 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: and ask what happened to them as a result of 257 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,880 Speaker 1: their more selective university enrollment under affirmative action. So that's 258 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: what Bloomer did. He looked at where ten thousand college 259 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: Albicans in California ended up without prop to OH nine, 260 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: both in college and in their careers. What he found 261 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: was pretty clear. Absent affirmative action, Black and Latino students 262 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: are less likely to earn college degrees. They're less likely 263 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: to earn graduate degrees, you know, following them another five 264 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: years into the future. They're less likely to earn degrees 265 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: in lucrative stem fields. This is science, technology, engineering, and 266 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 1: mathematics majors that are seen to provide long run wealth 267 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:42,679 Speaker 1: returns to students without those degrees. African Americans and Latino 268 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: has made less money after affirmative action ends. The average 269 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: Black and Latino university applicant loses about five percent of 270 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: their wages. Bliemer looked at higher earners, people making about 271 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand dollars in California by their mid thirties. 272 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: So let's put that into context. California in twenty four 273 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: team had about twenty thousand high earning Black and Latino 274 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: workers in the state around the ages of like thirty 275 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: to thirty four. How would that number of workers change 276 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: if affirmative action had stayed in place and so those 277 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: thirty to thirty four year olds had access to more 278 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: selective universities fifteen years ago when they went to college. 279 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: The answer is roughly three or four percent. So about 280 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 1: seven hundred or a thousand people working in California would 281 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: have been high earning if they had access to these 282 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: selective universities through affirmative action. So for African Americans and Latinos, 283 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: affirmative action had worked, they got more better academic credentials 284 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: and that translated into higher salaries. But what about other students. 285 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,159 Speaker 1: One of the common arguments against affirmative action is that 286 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:54,479 Speaker 1: it takes one of those slots away from someone quote 287 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: more deserving. Bloomers looked at that too. If that argument 288 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: was right, key theorized, then getting rid of affirmative action 289 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: would make their outcomes better. It didn't. Where did the 290 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 1: white and Asian students who would have gone to Berkeley? 291 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,399 Speaker 1: Where did they go? Instead? Most of them go to 292 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:18,120 Speaker 1: highly selective private universities of similar quality to UC Berkeley, 293 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: and so as a result, when you follow those students along, 294 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,920 Speaker 1: providing them access to UC Berkeley actually gives them surprisingly 295 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: little in terms of longer run wage outcomes. That brings 296 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: us back to the wealth gap. What Bloomer's research suggests 297 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: is that part of the reason that affirmative action measures 298 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: don't harm white and Asian students is because they tend 299 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: to have other options. The reason they have those other 300 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: options is because they are, on average, coming from families 301 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,479 Speaker 1: with greater wealth to begin with. Black and Hispanic students, 302 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: on the other hand, don't have as many of those 303 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:59,520 Speaker 1: resources that limits their options college wise. They don't again, 304 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: on average, ridge have equal opportunities elsewhere. Right after Prop 305 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: two O nine, past college enrollment for black students in 306 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: California state schools dropped by about fifteen percent. Ever since, 307 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: California legislators and advocates have been trying to overturn it 308 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,360 Speaker 1: or to find another way to strengthen affirmative action measures 309 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: in the state. Colleges have continued to prioritize diversity, so overall, 310 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: the number of black people getting four year degrees is 311 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:37,639 Speaker 1: still rising. But not as fast as it was, and 312 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: it's never caught up to white people. Last year, as 313 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: the pandemic swept across the US and the Black Lives 314 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: Matter movement put civil rights front and center, California lawmakers 315 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:53,480 Speaker 1: tried again. Shirley Webber led that fight. The ballot initiative 316 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 1: this time was called Prop sixteen. Okay, it's supposed been 317 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: cheered by somebody else's voice. That usual false to me, 318 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,159 Speaker 1: and I just said, let's do it. You know, if 319 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 1: we're gonna do it, let's do it. The language was clunky. 320 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: It asked voters to repeal the amendment to the state 321 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: constitution that prohibited discrimination or preferential treatment on the basis 322 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: of race, but it had lots of support from across 323 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: the left. The founders of b LM, the a c 324 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 1: l U, and the California Teachers Union all lined up 325 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:27,639 Speaker 1: behind it, and lots of celebrities too. Here's Eva DuVernay, 326 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,920 Speaker 1: Tracy Ellis, Ross and Ray encouraging people to vote for 327 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: a Prop six team and the fight to dismantle systemic 328 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: racism is on the ballot in California. Voting yes on 329 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: Prop sixteen is our chance to right the wrongs of 330 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 1: the past. Voting yes on Prop sixteen is one way 331 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: to prove that black lives matter. I'm voting yes on Prop. 332 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 1: Sixteen because I wouldn't have gotten into college had it 333 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: not been for affirmative action, which means I wouldn't have 334 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: had the same access to opportunities and resources as my 335 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,679 Speaker 1: wife peers. Voters in California, one of the most liberal 336 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:05,399 Speaker 1: states in the US, went to the polls again on 337 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: affirmative action. It was a really big election, and the 338 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: state's progressive voters were excited either to boot out to 339 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: Donald Trump or to cast a vote for the first 340 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,679 Speaker 1: woman of color as vice president following a summer of 341 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: Black Lives Matter protests. If there were ever a time 342 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: for affirmative action to come back, this would be it, 343 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: and Prop sixteen lost of people voted against it. In 344 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: nearly twenty five years since California ended affirmative action, the 345 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:43,119 Speaker 1: policies had gotten even less popular. Surely, Weber thinks that 346 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,520 Speaker 1: Prop sixteen made some people once again feel like they 347 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: might be on the losing end of a deal. If 348 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: I tell you that, you know we're looking at the universities, 349 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: then you know there's only so many seats in the university, 350 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: and will your kid get a seat? That's always a question. 351 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: And so those who thought they had a certain advantage 352 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: decided that it was too much to get, which is 353 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: not uncommon too much to get, So, you know, it's 354 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: one of the sad stories of the progressive California voting 355 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,840 Speaker 1: for affirmative actually equal opportunity and access was a little 356 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: bit more people wanted to do, you know, a little 357 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: bit more. It may have cost them something. So even 358 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: if the advantage that white people might have overall is 359 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: unfair to begin with or evolved out of centuries of unfairness, 360 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,160 Speaker 1: individuals don't see how that applies to them. Yeah, and 361 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,880 Speaker 1: that perception of unfairness might be really hard to overcome. 362 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: The thing is, focusing on education might be the wrong 363 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 1: way to think about closing the racial wealth gap. For 364 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 1: a long time, economists and policymakers thought that closing the 365 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: education gap would eventually close the wealth gap. Better education, 366 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: better jobs, more money, and walla equality. But recently a 367 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: pair of e anymous at the St. Louis Federal Reserve 368 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: suggested closing the education gap wouldn't even be enough when 369 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: you look at wealth across racial groups. So For example, 370 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 1: just among people with college degrees or advanced degrees, there 371 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: are still huge gaps. The FED research shows that white 372 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 1: and Asian people on average basically benefit more from education 373 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,360 Speaker 1: than Black and Latino people do at every level of education. 374 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: The wealth gap and the income gap persists. What's that work? 375 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 1: They say, are factors that you can't really see, discrimination 376 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: or other long term structural disadvantages. They might account for 377 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: as much as seventy of the wealth gap for black families. 378 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:47,199 Speaker 1: What do they recommend instead, They don't really make recommendations, 379 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 1: not in that paper. What they do say is that 380 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,400 Speaker 1: individual initiative or marginal policy changes might only chip away 381 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: at the gap. To really make significant progress, we need 382 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: quote more fundamental change general society. Maybe we should stop 383 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: fighting or small policy changes and push for bigger, more 384 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: radical things. Shirley Weber is doing just that. In October, 385 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: California passed into law another piece of legislation she wrote, 386 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,119 Speaker 1: We'll just start here by signing this. With this signature, 387 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: Governor Newsome made history, making California the first state in 388 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:30,199 Speaker 1: the country studying and developing proposals for potential reparations for 389 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,160 Speaker 1: African Americans. That bill is focused on on African Americans, 390 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 1: not on equity and everybody else. You know, there's a 391 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: there's an awful lot old to group of people who've 392 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: been here four hundred years, came here before the Mayflower, 393 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 1: and still are at the very bottom of opportunity. Um. So, 394 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,640 Speaker 1: whether it's manifests itself in reparations, whether it manifests itself 395 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: an affirmative action, remains to be seen. So what does 396 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: the bill say, They're going to study reparations. It's a 397 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,240 Speaker 1: first step, and for people really interested in leveling the 398 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: playing field, so to speak, it's an important one. For 399 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: much of the past fifty years, no one took the 400 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: movement for reparations all that seriously, it's different now. There 401 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: are tons of questions about what real reparations would look 402 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 1: like in the US. Next week on the Paycheck, we 403 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,680 Speaker 1: find out what happened when one affluenced Chicago suburb when 404 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 1: looking for answers, it is a way to repair egregious 405 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:43,440 Speaker 1: injury and crimes against humanity against the black community, and 406 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: we need to acknowledge that. And so yes, it is reparations. 407 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,359 Speaker 1: Let's not call it anything else. To make you feel 408 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: better about it, your role in it, or our inability 409 00:26:54,080 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: to address it before. Now let's call it what it is. Yeah, 410 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,879 Speaker 1: thanks for listening to the Paycheck. If you like the show, 411 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 412 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: This episode was hosted by Me, Rebecca Greenfield and Me 413 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,399 Speaker 1: Jackie Simmons. Today's episode was edited by Janet Paskin and 414 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 1: reported by Kelsey Butler. This episode was produced by Lindsay Cradowell. 415 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: We also had production help from Magnus Hendrickson and editing 416 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: help from Francesca Levi, Rackheeta Saluja, Jackie Simmons, and Me. 417 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: Our original music is by Leo Sigen. Francesca Levi is 418 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,520 Speaker 1: Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. We'll see you next time.