Revitalizing the Meaning of Diversity for Racial Justice in Education

Abstract

The concept of diversity undermines the true spirit of any affirmative action policy, which is to remedy society\u27s racism and promote racial justice and equality. This is because “diversity” detached from racial justice can signify any human difference unrelated to social inequality. Infusing the notion of “diversity” with the insights from implicit bias research would mean instead considering the goal of “diversity” as a device for making admissions procedures more equitable and justified amidst the continuing implicit bias that can be actually measured. Furthermore, connecting the diversity goal as a device for procedurally addressing implicit bias in admissions decisions and standards also repositions affirmative action as a racial justice project