The Role of Affirmative Action in the Civil Rights Movement

Do the government's affirmative action policies promote equity in the United States? The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and affirmative action policies come under scrutiny in an activity that asks class members to...

How can a college board of trustees both increase cultural and racial diversity and offer all incoming high schoolers equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment? Class members debate the question using readings about how colleges...

Article and activity in which students explore affirmative action in higher education and set university admission policy in small group activity. Includes questions for discussion and writing.

How is discrimination from the past reversed? Scholars investigate the concept of affirmative action in the 32nd lesson of a 50-part Crash Course video series on United States government and politics. They use the short video to analyze...

Eleventh graders examine the Adarand case.  In this American Government lesson, 11th graders create a list of reasons for each affirmative action program.  Students develop a defense on certain issues and present it to the class. 

This resource from Khan Academy provides practice questions over affirmative action. These questions are intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics courses, including the AP Government course.

This video lesson from Khan Academy discusses affirmative action. This lesson is intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics courses, including the AP Government course.

In this episode, we'll explain what affirmative action is, who it is for, and why it still exists. We'll get into the court's rationalization for it in the 1970s, as well as its fall from favor in more recent years. [7:13]

This resource offers extensive information on a detailed timeline for students and teachers examining the ongoing debate around the issue of affirmative action.

A description of the reasoning behind affirmative action, the court cases that upheld it, and those that have dismantled it.