Research Symposium

22nd annual Undergraduate Research Symposium

Davone Simmons He/Him Poster Session 2: 10:00 - 10:45/ Poster #14


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BIO


Hello, I am a second year Economics student from Tampa, FL with a minor in Statistics. My research interests lie within the intersection of social sciences and qualitative analysis, which this project allows me to do. Post graduation, I hope to enter the technology industry continuing research into data analytics and data science.

Constitutionality of Reparations & Affirmative Action

Authors: Davone Simmons, Taylor Darks
Student Major: Economics
Mentor: Taylor Darks
Mentor's Department: Sociology
Mentor's College: College of Social Sciences & Public Policy
Co-Presenters: Karissa Huggins

Abstract


In the city of Evanston, Illinois, reparations became a prominent conversation when policymakers decided it was time to rectify past wrongdoings to the Black community of Evanston. The concept of reparations, affirmative action and their constitutionality is the focus of this project. Affirmative action is the policy that favors individuals in marginalized groups. Both reparations and affirmative action, while separate concepts, spark similar conversations in the same spaces. Prior research highlights reparations in an opinionated context as legal action against or for them proves to be a hard task. This project aims to analyze the discourse surrounding reparations in the city of Evanston. Qualitative methods such as legal analysis, discourse analysis and coding articles are used to achieve this. Findings report that most conversation around reparations falls into categories that can be described as connotations; positive or negative. The significance of these findings lies in the analysis of the discourse that surrounds reparations and affirmative action. The discourse found seems to have heavy ties to the result of policy decisions, not just in Evanston, but affirmative action and reparations cases nationwide.

Keywords: Reparations, Affirmative Action, Qualitative