Glazer Condemns Racial Quotas, Affirmative Action

The racial quotas and timetables of the federal government's affirmative action regulations are unconstitutional and should be eliminated, Nathan Glazer, professor of Education and Social Structure, told an often hostile group of 50 students at Mather House last night.

Glazer, invited by the Harvard Republican Club to speak about his recent book, "Affirmative Discrimination," said he supported civil rights legislation of the Sixties, but he said he "draws the line at statistical goals and timetables."

"Without such quotas we did not have systematic discrimination in employment--especially by large corporations--or in education," Glazer said.

Several students present questioned Glazer's "rosy picture" of the economic status of blacks. Noting that the black unemployment figure is twice that of white unemployment, one asked Glazer to propose an alternative to quotas that would close this gap.

Glazer admitted in response that affirmative action could equalize the unemployment figures, but he asked the questioner to "look where it all ends up." He said that racial quotas for every group would not be "desirable" as a long-run solution.

One way to increase minority hiring is to direct advertising and recruitment programs to areas with large minority populations, Glazer said.