When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America Cover
Podcast Mentions

When Affirmative Action Was White An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America

Ira Katznelson

A study on the lesser-known origins of affirmative action argues that key programs passed during the New Deal and Fair Deal era of the 1930s and 1940s were purposefully discriminatory, revealing how Southern democrats widened the gap between black and white Americans through specific restrictions in...

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The Ezra Klein Show

Podcast

The Ezra Klein Show

Derek Hamilton said the book was foundational because it showed how government policy could promote universal human rights and a more inclusive society.

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Well you heard me talk about When Affirmative Action Was White by Ira Katznelson. I mean that is foundational for me. It's foundational for me because it demonstrates what government can do in order t...

— Episode: Why This Economist Wants to Give Every P...

Episode: Why This Economist Wants to Give Every Poor Child...

Derek Hamilton said the book was foundational because it showed how government policy could promote universal human rights and a more inclusive society.

"

Well you heard me talk about When Affirmative Action Was White by Ira Katznelson. I mean that is foundational for me. It's foundational for me because it demonstrates what government can do in order to promote the human rights of all of us, to promote a great society for all of us.

The Daily Show: Ears Edition

Podcast

The Daily Show: Ears Edition

This book contains chapters focusing on the GI Bill, a post-World War II social welfare program that largely excluded Black Americans from its benefits, which included homeownership, education, and business opportunities. The book's discussion of the GI Bill's discriminatory implementation was impactful for Richard Brookshire's understanding of the inequities faced by Black veterans.

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And I read a book called When Affirmative Action Was White, a book by Ira Katz-Nelson, a professor out of Columbia.

— Episode: Honoring The History & Legacy of Black V...

Episode: Honoring The History & Legacy of Black Veterans| B...

This book contains chapters focusing on the GI Bill, a post-World War II social welfare program that largely excluded Black Americans from its benefits, which included homeownership, education, and business opportunities. The book's discussion of the GI Bill's discriminatory implementation was impactful for Richard Brookshire's understanding of the inequities faced by Black veterans.

"

And I read a book called When Affirmative Action Was White, a book by Ira Katz-Nelson, a professor out of Columbia.

And there are two chapters in it that focused on the GI Bill and essentially this wide social welfare program right after World War Two that enabled many people to gain access to zero via back home, also the ability to buy a home for the first time, the ability to go to school.

Stay Tuned with Preet

Podcast

Stay Tuned with Preet

It was cited in the context of discussing the lasting effects of discrimination against African-Americans, highlighting that post-World War II initiatives like the GI Bill were designed to benefit white Americans over Black Americans.

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What the United States did in that post-World War II period was the equivalent of a Marshall Plan for white Americans. And when that carries on over generations, you have profound effects of lasting d...

— Episode: Will SCOTUS Kill Affirmative Action? (wi...

Episode: Will SCOTUS Kill Affirmative Action? (with Lee Bol...

It was cited in the context of discussing the lasting effects of discrimination against African-Americans, highlighting that post-World War II initiatives like the GI Bill were designed to benefit white Americans over Black Americans.

"

What the United States did in that post-World War II period was the equivalent of a Marshall Plan for white Americans. And when that carries on over generations, you have profound effects of lasting discrimination.

as one of my colleagues has put it in a book called When Affirmative Action Was White, Ira Katznelson, distinguished political scientist, historian, and colleague here.

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