reverse discrimination

English

Noun

reverse discrimination (uncountable)

1. (law, ethics, public policy) The discrimination against members of a historically dominant or majority group, often in favor of minorities or disadvantaged groups, typically arising from affirmative action or equity policies aimed at remedying a past injustice.

   Synonyms: counterdiscrimination, positive discrimination

   • 1965 July 9, “Statutes: Sex & VII”, in Time:

     In one instance, Title VII authorizes reverse discrimination. The act gives employers ranging from Minnesota wild-rice farmers to New Mexico electronics manufacturers the option of hiring only American Indians.

   • 2002, “Why Affirmative Action Does Little Harm to White Students”, in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, number 36, page 21:

     Alan Bakke at the University of California At Davis Medical School, Karen Hopwood at the law school of the University of Texas, and Jennifer Gratz at the University of Michigan all have argued successfully in court that they were the victims of reverse discrimination because blacks were given preferential treatment in the admissions process at these schools.

Usage notes

• Depending on the jurisdiction, reverse discrimination may sometimes have a connotation of illegality.
• Reverse discrimination sometimes has the connotation of involving numerical quotas for designated groups in employment and education.

Translations

advantaging minority groups who have traditionally been discriminated

Chinese: Mandarin: 逆向歧視 / 逆向歧视 (nìxiàng qíshì) Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: positieve discriminatie m Finnish: käänteinen syrjintä, positiivinen syrjintä French: discrimination positive (fr) f

See also

• affirmative action
• reverse bigotry
• reverse racism

Further reading

• reverse discrimination on Wikipedia.Wikipedia