An exploration of one of the most debated-and divisive-issues in American society today.

Why has affirmative action become the lightning rod for conflicts over racial inequality in the United States? Have color-blind legal and political doctrines intensified or ameliorated America's racial divisions? Race and Representation invites the reader to enter a debate on a matter of the greatest moment for American universities, politics, and public life. Focusing on the politically driven decision of California's governor and the Board of Regents of the University of California to end affirmative action at the university, the subsequent enactment of an amendment to the California Constitution prohibiting the state from engaging in affirmative action, and court decisions in Texas that used the federal Constitution to prohibit affirmative action at state universities, the contributors to this volume incisively assess the current state of the tumultuous controversy over affirmative action.