The interpretive repertoires of whites on race-targeted policies: Claims making of reverse discrimination

bDrawing on the accounts of white men and women, we examine the role that d iscourse plays in the formation and reinforcement of ideals that perpetuate social disadvantaging. In addition, using discourse analysis we examine th e redefinition of race-targeting policies from being a social remedy into b eing a current social problem. We collected interview and questionnaire dat a from a sample of 310 students and faculty at predominantly white universi ty, regarding their attitude toward race- and income targeted social polici es in the United States. We find that the majority of respondents who oppos e race-targeting policies (1) frame racial discriminations as a problem of the past; (2) define race-targeting as a subversion of meritocracy; and the refore, (3) devalue programs that seek to provide differential opportunity to those groups that have been structurally disadvantaged in American socie ty. We conclude that the "American stratification ethos ethos" can he emplo yed for disadvantaging purposes.