2. Obviously, Nathan Glazer (Affirmative Discrimination, Chapters 1 and 3) and Derrick Bell (Silent Covanents) hold very different views about racism, racial discrimination, and “the promise of Brown.” Yet, interestingly, they seem to share certain criticisms of a third perspective —a view we might loosely call “liberal integrationism”—favoring school desegregation defined primarily as racial balancing or the condition or reality of racial mixing in schools.
Compare and contrast the views of Glazer and Bell on school desegregation law and policy, respectively. How are their respective arguments similar and how are they different? Of the three perspectives (Glazer’s, Bell’s, and “liberal integrationists’”), which one makes the most sense, and why? Defend your answer. Note: The liberal integrationist position might be gleaned from Glazer’s and Bell’s respective negative portrayals of it, or by by carefully reading Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion in Parents Involved for policy arguments supporting school desegregation.
