When Affirmative Action Was White, Ira Katznelson
When Affirmative Action Was White, Ira Katznelson
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When Affirmative Action Was White
An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America

Author: Ira Katznelson

Narrator: Jonathan Yen

Unabridged: 8 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/16/2016


Synopsis

In this "penetrating new analysis" (New York Times Book Review) Ira Katznelson fundamentally recasts our understanding of twentieth-century American history and demonstrates that all the key programs passed during the New Deal and Fair Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s were created in a deeply discriminatory manner. Through mechanisms designed by Southern Democrats that specifically excluded maids and farm workers, the gap between blacks and whites actually widened despite postwar prosperity. In the words of noted historian Eric Foner, "Katznelson's incisive book should change the terms of debate about affirmative action, and about the last seventy years of American history."

About Ira Katznelson

Ira Katznelson is Columbia University's Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History. Having served as president of the American Political Science Association, he is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He is also the author of Fear Itself.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tressie on January 06, 2013

My new thing after reading this book was to add "when it was white" to the end of every discussion of social policy and institutions. I have a particular sense of humor. So, the premise of the book is that what we have coded as "minority" programs in the U.S. -- welfare, affirmative action, food stam......more

Goodreads review by Pascal on March 19, 2013

Very crucial book that should be read by all. Details how Black Americans in large numbers were left out the most significant benefits of the New Deal. Including, Social Security, Minimum Wage protection, and the benefits of the GI Bill. This book should place the affirmative action debate in a bett......more