What if there was no Affirmative Action in the US from the late 1960's to the present?
I am thinking here of any sort of policies (not necessarily quotas which I believe are unconsitutional) which put in place forms of 'positive discrimination' in favour of previously disadvangted groups, i.e. African-American and lower-income people.
I ask this question not from the typical conservative view that is against what it sees as favouritism towards minorities. I instead ask it from the viewpoint of many left-wingers outside the US (and in particular in continental Europe) that sees affirmative action as a basically ineffective soution to the problems faced by poor and minorities. I've spoken to some French friends who are quite strong social democrats who are fundamentally opposed to these policies (it came up in conversation about the problems faced by French Arabs). T
They said (and I would have to agree) that a far better solution would have been more spending on public facilities such as school hospitals housing, etc, in poorer inner-city in the US which would have helped all poor and African-American people, not just those who went to university (for instance).
How would the US have been different if over the past almost 40 years, there had been no affirmative action at all and instead greater public spending in socio-economically depressed areas.