University of California v Bakke

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Domains

Trials and major cases

Dates

Date of occurrence 1978-06-28

Places

United States (Location)

Resources

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The U.S. Supreme Court determined in their 28 June decision on U.S. v. Bakke that affirmative action was indeed constitutional; however, the decision invalidated the use of racial quotas to achieve equality. The case started at the University of California, Davis medical school, which reserved 16 percent of its admission placements for minority applicants. Allan Bakke, a white man who had twice failed to gain entry into the medical school, filed suit against the university. He subsequently produced evidence that demonstrated that his grades and test scores were higher than many of those minority students who had gained entry. Bakke thus charged the university with ‘reverse discrimination’, which was contrary to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And the ‘equal protection’ clause of the…

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179 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "University of California v Bakke". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5712, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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