The Walls around Opportunity: The Failure of Colorblind Policy for Higher Education

by Gary Orfield

Overview

The case for race-conscious education policy

In our unequal society, families of color fully share the dream of college but their children often attend schools that do not prepare them, and the higher education system gives the best opportunities to the most privileged. Students of color hope for college but often face a dead end.

For many young people, racial inequality puts them at a disadvantage from early childhood. The Walls around Opportunity argues that colorblind policies have made college inaccessible to a large share of students of color, and reveals how policies that acknowledge racial inequalities and set racial equality goals can succeed where colorblindness has failed.

Gary Orfield paints a troubling portrait of American higher education, explaining how profound racial gaps imbedded in virtually every stage of our children’s lives pose a major threat to communities of color and the nation. He describes how the 1960s and early 1970s was the only period in history to witness sustained efforts at racial equity in higher education, and how the Reagan era ushered in today’s colorblind policies, which ignore the realities of color inequality. Orfield shows how this misguided policy has resegregated public schools, exacerbated inequalities in college preparation, denied needed financial aid to families, and led to huge price increases over decades that have seen little real gain in income for most Americans.

Now with a new afterword that discusses the 2023 Supreme Court decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions, this timely and urgent book shows that the court’s colorblind ruling is unworkable in a society where every aspect of opportunity and preparation is linked to race, and reveals the gaps in the opportunity pipeline while exploring the best ways to address them in light of this decision.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691239194
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Series:	Our Compelling Interests , #9
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	724,219
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Gary Orfield is professor of education, law, political science, and urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he codirects the Civil Rights Project, one of the nation’s leading centers for civil rights research. His many books include Educational Delusions? and Dismantling Desegregation.

Table of Contents

Author's Note vii

1 Colorblind Higher Education Policy in a Racially Stratified Society 1

2 Cumulative Racial Inequalities and the Path to College 46

3 The Tradition of Exclusion 91

4 The Civil Rights Revolution and the War on Poverty: A Color-Conscious Rights Policy Worked 115

5 Colorblindness Reigns: Four Decades of Inequality in a Transforming Society 143

6 Deep Changes for Real Gains 188

7 Strategies 198

Commentary: James D. Anderson 263

Commentary: Stella M. Flores 281

Notes 295

Bibliography 327

Index 351

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“At a time when children of color are the fastest growing sector of our preadult population, systemic inequalities represent a serious threat to democratic citizenship in our country. In this masterfully argued and brilliantly written book, Orfield offers a detailed blueprint for undoing the walls around opportunity for millions of our children. This is a book every citizen should read and pass on to others.”—Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, Boston

“Orfield’s book is well timed. It is written with a sense of urgency, and the call to action is clear.”—Bridget Long, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

“Gary Orfield’s brilliant and powerful book shows that pursuing colorblindedness in education only increases inequalities, and offers detailed suggestions for reform. The Walls around Opportunity needs to be read by everyone who is involved in designing policy for schools, from preschool through college.”—Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law

“Orfield’s book encapsulates the work of a scholar who has committed his life to the eradication of educational inequality. Written in Orfield’s frank, astute style, The Walls around Opportunity provides a strong multidisciplinary mix of social science evidence of why public education has yet to become the great equalizer in society, yet also offers hope for educational redemption.”—Prudence L. Carter, coeditor of Closing the Opportunity Gap

Editorial Reviews

"[The Walls Around Opportunity] provides compelling evidence that the educational policy implementation practices begun by former President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration . . . were effectively undercut by the color-blind methodologies introduced by President Ronald Reagan and perpetuated by subsequent presidents. . . . Orfield argues that the current bleak conditions can be overcome through bold action and offers a toolkit of strategies . . . to reform education in the US and restore meaningful opportunities."

Choice

"Anyone who seeks to understand policies and structures that have generated and continue to reinforce racial stratification in the US, and who believes that the past can inform the present and guide the future, will find the book to be a worthy read."—-Pamela R. Bennett, Ethnic and Race Studies

From the Publisher

03/01/2022

Orfield (education, law, political science, and urban planning, Univ. of California, Los Angeles) offers a thorough, unflinching look at what it would take to eradicate racial barriers in American higher education. Orfield walks readers through the history of harm and exclusion in the U.S. education system, especially for black, Latinx, and Indigenous students, and explains why most "race-blind" attempts to open up college access have failed. He argues that any policy that will truly make strides in narrowing the achievement gap will have to include considerations of race and the particular problems students of color encounter as they try to access education. This comprehensive work addresses just about every aspect of this multilayered problem, with particular attention to inadequate high school preparation and unmanageable college costs. Readers with a strong understanding of U.S. history will find that the first several chapters are primarily review, but Chapter six, which analyzes potential solutions, is the book's strongest and is worth a read even for experts. VERDICT This work finds clear directions within a complex issue and makes a robust case for centering race in higher education policy.—Sarah Schroeder

Library Journal