Frank Deale: A Brief History of Affirmative Action and CUNY

Frank Deale, CUNY School of LawCUNY and Race Forum (Professional Staff Congress)New York City College of Technology, CUNYDecember 9, 2011Professor Frank Deale (CUNY School of Law) gave opening keynote remarks at the CUNY and Race Forum sponsored by the Professional Staff Congress. Providing social, political, and legal historical context for affirmative action, he broached two themes. First, the difference between anti-discrimination and affirmative action policies and second, voluntary affirmative action versus change that occurs through legislative decisions. In this 17 minute talk, Frank Deale analyzes the periods of Reconstruction and the Civil War, including the effects of the Freedmen’s Bureau, to the Civil Rights movement, and CUNY’s policies of the 1970s and 80s up to  the present.