Abstract
Over 40 years ago, Gunnar Myrdal, in his seminal book An American Dilemma, dissected the moral problem of American racism as it had never been dissected before. His key insight is by now a cliché: that a terrible tension existed in American society between its professed ideals of equality and fairness based on individual merit and the reality of brutal, suffocating oppression based on skin color. This tension was said to create a dissonance in the American psyche so sharp that it threatened to split us asunder, but if we came to grips with it and made genuine efforts to make reality conform to our ideals, it could be the source of our redemption.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Fischer, J. H. (1963). Educational problems of segregation and desegregation. In A. H. Passow (Ed.), Education in depressed areas. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.
Green, P. (1981, March 30). The new individualism. Christianity and Crisis, 41, 79–80.
Johnson, L. B. (1965, June). Address, Howard University.
Kerner, O. (1968). Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. New York: Bantam Books.
King, M. L., Jr. (1963, June 30). Protestant Heritage, National Broadcasting Company.
Murray, C. (1984, December 31). Affirmative racism. The New Republic.
Myrdal, G. (1944). An American Dilemma: The Negro problem and modem democracy. New York: Harper.
Parris, G. (1963, July 15). Newsweek, p. 69.
Reynolds, W. B. (1986, January 30). New York Times.
Ribicoff, A. (1963, June 27). Address, United States Senate.
Samuelson, R. J. (1984, July 11). Affirmative action’s usefulness is passing. Washington Post, sec. D, p. 8, col. 1.
Sowell, T. (1984, August 12). Black progress can’t be legislated. Washington Post Outlook, sec. B, p. 4, cols. 3, 4.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Glasser, I. (1988). Affirmative Action and the Legacy of Racial Injustice. In: Katz, P.A., Taylor, D.A. (eds) Eliminating Racism. Perspectives in Social Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0818-6_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0818-6_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0820-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0818-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive