"Defining a Conservative Idea of 'Diversity'"

"One can begin to hear how Warren's multicultural argument intersects with Powell's defense of segregation in the Keyes concurrence. But Powell's biggest contribution to the modern history of race and law came in the Court's decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), when he argued that diversity could be taken into account as a factor in college admissions, but not to respond to historical injustice against African Americans. Instead, Powell thought that the only reason diversity could be taken into account was when it was designed to promote 'academic freedom.' As Walker notes, this kind of argument, like the Southern moderates' position examined in his first book, purportedly seeks to protect the 'diversity' of cultural institutions but is, in fact, 'hostile to aggressive government efforts aimed at achieving equality.' Like Warren, Powell made a case for multicultural pluralism that ultimately weakened the idea of social, as well as cultural, integration."

At The Nation, Robert Green reviews Anders Walker's The Burning House: Jim Crow and the Making of Modern America.