Also known as: societal discriminations
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A diffuse pattern of historical bias throughout society that cannot alone support race-conscious government programs under strict scrutiny. Courts require instead a strong evidentiary basis of specific, identified discrimination by the government or within the relevant local industry and jurisdiction.
The Green Valley Housing Authority reserved 25 percent of its property-management contracts for minority-owned firms after reviewing regional housing-segregation studies. Apex Communities, a nonminority developer, lost a contract and sued. The court held that the authority's reliance on broad regional patterns failed to identify discrimination in its own contracting market.
Seattle's student-assignment plan used race to counteract housing patterns that produced racially identifiable schools. Parents Involved challenged the policy. The Court ruled that remedying the effects of past societal discrimination did not supply a compelling interest for the race-conscious assignments.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Congress cited widespread historical exclusion of disabled persons from public services when it enacted Title II of the ADA. Tennessee challenged the statute's application to courthouse access. The Court distinguished the statute's response to concrete state violations from reliance on general societal discrimination alone.
The Jackson school board adopted a layoff rule that preserved minority teachers to provide role models and offset past societal discrimination. Nonminority teachers facing layoffs sued. The Court held that alleviating societal discrimination without more could not justify the racial preference in employment decisions.
UC Davis reserved 16 seats in its medical class for minority applicants to counter the effects of societal discrimination. Allan Bakke, denied admission, challenged the quota. The Court concluded that remedying general societal discrimination did not justify the rigid racial set-aside.
The University of Texas considered race as one factor in holistic admissions to achieve student-body diversity. Abigail Fisher challenged her denial. The Court required the university to show that race was necessary after considering race-neutral alternatives rather than relying on broad societal conditions.
A government must demonstrate a strong basis in evidence of its own identified past discrimination in the relevant industry and jurisdiction. Generalized references to societal discrimination or broad demographic disparities do not suffice.
Supporting sources
Societal discrimination is too amorphous to permit narrowly tailored remedies. Without specific findings tying the program to identified discrimination by the government or local contractors, the measure fails strict scrutiny.
The city must produce particularized evidence of discrimination in its own contracting process or in the local industry, not merely population statistics or national studies. A short internal review showing only underrepresentation is constitutionally insufficient.
No. Bare statistical underrepresentation, without findings of specific discriminatory acts or exclusionary practices by the government, reflects only societal discrimination and cannot support a race-conscious program.
…contractors had discriminated against minority-owned subcontractors. The city's argument that it is attempting to remedy past societal discrimination is also unavailing. While the States have a compelling interest in remedying past discrimination, this interest cannot be established by relying on mere statistical disparities. The city…