The target of several lawsuits over its racial-preference policies, the University of Michigan now offers a course simply titled "Affirmative Action," which is described as follows:

There is a great concern that all the rights gained in the sixties are now being eroded by legal challenges to affirmative action rules. Indeed there is a hue and cry that there is now reverse discrimination and that preferential treatment is illegal. The African American community in particular appears to be greatly alarmed by these challenges and is looking for ways to respond to these setbacks. This course will address the dilemma of the response and attempt to shape some thinking about the fight for affirmative action. The cases at the University of Michigan and the University of Texas will be examined not for their legal construct but for their meaning as a social construct. In addition Proposition 209 will be discussed as an important watershed in the anti-civil rights movement. The anti-affirmative action forces, and the dilemma of African-Americans and other minorities against affirmative action will be seriously addressed. Some attention will be paid to Justice Clarence Thomas and Mr. Ward Connerly, two major figures against affirmative action. The objective is to begin the process of cogent action and to develop the language to articulate affirmative action as a right and not a benefit. Instructor: Nesha Haniff.

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