Discrimination based on parentage and discrimination based on race

[Mark Graber]

Might Eugene have presented a powerful argument for affirmative action.  For various reasons, we do not want to get rid of these preferences.  But we also recognize that these preferences discriminate against persons of color.  Therefore, we accept some affirmative action.  It's not perfect, and some innocent persons suffer, but perhaps a general rule of public policy might be that given the history of race discrimination in the united states, whenever there is a situation where some innocent persons will be disciminated against (i.e., no policy exists which has no innocent victims), government is allowed to decide that those innocent persons will not be persons of color.

Mark A. Graber
mgraber at gvpt.umd.edu

>>> VOLOKH at MAIL.LAW.UCLA.EDU 08/07/00 04:49PM >>>
        Gayle and Sandy raise some powerful arguments, but let me ask how
far they go.  If consanguinity preferences are indeed tantamount to racial
preferences, does it follow that it would violate Title VII for an employer
to give a preference to his own children?  How about to children of his high
school buddies, when the high school was de facto segregated?  What if his
high school were de jure segregated?