Is affirmative action racist? Reflections toward a theory of institutional racism.

Therefore, according to group position theory, affirmative action institutions have the effect of bolstering racist ideology.[19] By contrast, the anti-affirmative action argument that Anderson rightly criticizes in I The Imperative of Integration i operates with the theoretical construct of I stigma i . Therefore, Anderson's rightful criticism of the argument that affirmative action reinforces I stigma i among its beneficiaries has no bearing on my claim [3] that affirmative action bolsters racist ideology in the form of I stigmatizing representations i of Blacks. According to group position theory, the causal chain whereby affirmative action contributes to the wide acceptance of racist ideology is as follows: (1) Affirmative action redresses the effects of race-based disadvantage and increases Black access to greater resources and status. Shelby's view of the connection between racist ideology and extrinsically racist institutions Shelby argues that racist ideology is operative in extrinsically racist institutions in the sense that these institutions reinforce racist ideology. Drawing on Raymond Geuss' account of ideology, Shelby identifies three properties that all ideologies share (Geuss, [24]; Shelby, [36], 164). [Extracted from the article]