The Buffs by Gregory Blaxland

The Buffs by Gregory Blaxland

Affirmative action: does it really counteract racism? Is it morally justifiable? In her timely and tough-minded book, Gertrude Ezorsky addresses these central issues in the ongoing controversy surrounding affirmative action, and comes up with some convincing answers.

Ezorsky begins by examining the effectiveness of affirmative action as a remedy for institutional racism in the workplace. She analyzes the ways in which common practices-selection of employees based on personal connections, qualification, and seniority standards-perpetuate the injurious effect of past racial discrimination, and she assesses the rationale for such affirmative action measures as objective job-related testing, numerical goals, and preferential treatment for basically qualified blacks. To illuminate the social reality in which affirmative action takes place, she draws on recent work by social scientists and legal scholars.

Turning to the moral issues, Ezorsky posits two basic justifications for affirmative action: first, looking backward-to provide deserved compensation for past racial injustice that was sanctioned, practiced, and encouraged by our government; second, looking forward-to promote racial desegregation in the American workplace. Unlike some supporters of affirmative action, she does not deny that preferential treatment may place an unfair burden on white males. Indeed, she suggests specific practical measures for spreading that burden more equitably.

Clear-headed, well-reasoned, and persuasive, this book will be read eagerly by everyone from students to legislators, by anyone concerned with racial justice in America.

Blaxland, Gregory: - Gregory Blaxland was born less than a month after the end of WW1. He passed out of Sandhurst in July 1939 at the age of 20 and was commissioned into the Buffs. He was thus one of the youngest British Army officers at the outbreak of WW2, and was part of the initial British Expeditionary Force in September 1939 until his evacuation from Dunkirk on May 31st 1940. He saw active service throughout the remainder of WW2, including in North Africa, Italy and Greece. After the war he continued his career as a professional soldier, and in February 1954, four months after getting married, he was sent to join his regiment in Kenya. Within 48 hours of his arrival he had contracted polio and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He established a new career as an author and journalist, and became a successful and respected military historian. He died in 1986 at the age of 67, and was survived by his wife, son and daughter.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780850450644
ISBN 10	0850450640
Title	The Buffs
Author	Gregory Blaxland
Series	Men-At-Arms
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Year published	1972-06-15
Number of pages	40
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable