And Still We Rise Literary Analysis

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209: “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled in chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line in a race and then say, you are free to compete with all the others and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” (President Johnson). Hobard Taylor Jr., a black attorney was asked by Vice president Lyndon Johnson to help presidential advisors to write an executive order uncovering federal contractors from racial discrimination in hiring. Executive Order 10924 was drafted and signed by President Kennedy in March 1961 which stated that “the contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” In higher education, the civil rights movement prompted a number of universities to reevaluate their admissions policies and begin to recruit and admit black students in order to increase black enrollment.

During the 1990s race-based preferences intensified. Affirmative action was eliminated in California and Texas public institution because: affirmative action lead to reverse discrimination and was condescending to minorities to say they need affirmative action to succeed. Minority students were then at a disadvantage due to inadequate housing, education and job opportunities. Most students were from broken homes, some parents were on drugs, students were in foster care, single parent household, struggled with school work and motherhood etc.

I agree with Corwin’s argument that affirmative action is still needed when looking at the lives of inner-city students and the neighborhoods they live in, the condition of the school they attend, their lack of SAT preparation, their work schedules, and their families. These are all examples of why affirmative action is helpful for minority students because of the advantages that suburban high schools have over them. Many minority’s struggle with personal issues at home but still manage to stay focused at school in order to pursue their dreams and “make it out the hood.” These minority’s at Crenshaw High School were surrounded by poverty, drop-outs, and gangs but still ensured they got an education.

“While gender politics and the call for diversity have influenced the debate, affirmative action was created in the 1960’s to benefit blacks, whose history of enslavement, legally imposed segregation” said Corwin, which was another reason why he decided a predominantly black school such as Crenshaw would be an ideal place to set the book. These students sacrificed much in order to further their education and overcome the many obstacles. Most of the students that were in Toni Little’s class graduated and went onto college, but students like Olivia whom were taken into jail, had to wait longer in order to finish her classes and graduate later than her classmates. There was also Sabreen, who passed her GED and earned a high school degree then attended college in New York. Corwin portrayed these students as heroes with inspirational