We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

by Bettina L. Love

Another manifestation of “interest convergence” is the fact that White women have benefited from affirmative action more than any other group. For example, “a 1995 report by the California Senate Government Organization Committee found that White women held a majority of managerial jobs (57,250) compared with African Americans (10,500), Latinos (19,000), and Asian Americans (24,600) after the first two decades of affirmative action in the private sector.”17 More current data show that, in 2015, “a disproportionate representation of White women business owners set off concerns that New York state would not be able to bridge a racial gap among public contractors.”18 Simply put, “interest convergence” argues that White people will support civil rights legislation only when it’s in their interest to do so.