Stephan Thernstrom | Abigail Thernstrom

Articles by Abigail Thernstrom

Abigail Thernstrom | Stephan Thernstrom

Brown at 60: An American Success Story
Never mind chatter about the 'resegregation' of U.S. schools. The landmark Supreme Court case did its job.
By Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom, Wall Street Journal online, May 13, 2014.
Asian Americans Resist Racial Preferences by Abigail Thernstrom, The American, March 30, 2014
Obama's mistake on Trayvon Martin case, by Abigail Thernstrom, Special to CNN. July 15, 2013.
A Vindication of the Voting Rights Act, Abigail Thernstrom, Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2013. [read article at AEI]
“Clear Thinking on Race” Review of Thomas Sowell, Intellectuals and Race, National Review, May 6, 2013. [read article]
“Left Behind: Sometimes Indoctrination Works and Sometimes it doesn’t,” Review of Dina Hampton, Little Red: Three Passionate Lives Through the Sixties and Beyond, Weekly Standard, April 29, 2013. [read article]
Commentary on Shelby County v. Holder, SCOTUS blog, February 28, 2013. [read article]
“Why Section 5 Survives,” The Great Debate: Reuters Symposium on “The Future of the Voting Rights Act’s Section 5, January 30, 2013.
“The Voting Rights Act’s Murky Legal Landscape,” American Bar Association, State and Local Law News, Volume 36, Number 2, Winter 2013.
“Commentary on Shelby County v. Holder,” Scotus blog, February13, 2013
Amicus brief, Shelby Co, AL v. Holder, Abigail Thernstrom et al, 2013, In the Supreme Court of the United States, No. 12-96. [read article]
“A Failed Policy,” review of Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It, by Richard H. Sander and Stuart Taylor Jr., National Review, November 12, 2012. [read article]
“The demise of Section 5: A now-irrelevant provision of the Votng Rights Act may soon be no more,” National Review, March 16, 2012.
Review of Richard H. Sander and Stuart Taylor Jr., Mismatch: How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It’s Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won’t Admit It,” National Review, November 12, 2012. [read article]
“The New Guidelines for Section 5 Implementation,” ch. 9, Benjamin E. Griffith, ed, America Votes! A Guide to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights, 2nd edition, American Bar Association, section of state and local government law, 2012.
An amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court in the Fisher case. [to be heard October 10, 2012.]
The New Guidelines for Section 5 Implementation, American Bar Association, America Votes, 2nd edition by Abigail Thernstrom.
Online VRA symposium: The Section 5 guidelines and their substantial federalism costs. Abigail Thernstrom, guest. SCOTUSblog, Sept 12, 2012. [reprint]
"Redistricting in Today's Shifting Racial Landscape," 23 Stanford Law and Policy Review 373 (2012), Electionlawblog.org, posted September 4, 2012. [reprint]
Voter ID laws are good for democracy: Without a personal identification card issued by some level of government, you are a second-class citizen. Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom. Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2012; Real Clear Politics, August 18, 2012.
The Good News About Race in America: A conversation with Abigail Thernstrom. Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2012.
The demise of Section 5: A now-irrelevant provision of the Voting Rights Act may soon be no more. by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, March 16, 2012.
Racial Gerrymandering: To the civil rights community, segregated congressional districts are enlightened public policy. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, April 29, 2011.
Yes, the Black Panther Case Is Small Potatoes: A reply to Andrew McCarthy. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, July 27, 2010. [read article]
The New Black Panther Case: A Conservative Dissent by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online July 6, 2010. [read article]
A Political Moment to Savor: A black Republican wins GOP nomination in South Carolina by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, June 24, 2010 [read article]
Politics, Not Race, Defeated Artur Davis by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, June 2, 2010. [read article]
Obama's Census Identity by Abigail Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal - Opinion Journal, April 8, 2010 [read article]
Redistricting, Race, and the Voting Rights Act. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Affairs, April 6, 2010. [read article as pdf] [read article at AEI Online]
Racial Epithets and the Tea Partiers, cont’d. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, April 5, 2010. [read article]
Answer the Race Question. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, March 24, 2010. [read article]
Are Some Races More Equal Than Others? By Abigail Thernstrom, American.com, March 12, 2010. [read article]
An 'Earth-Shaking' Election in New Orleans by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, February 10, 2010. [read article]
NAMUDNO: Right Question, Wrong Case by Abigail Thernstrom, SCOTUS Blog, February 8, 2010. [read article]
Down Memory Lane in the Blue, Blue State By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online and AEI online, January 19 2010. [read article at NRO or AEI]
Harry Reid Off Camera by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, January 11, 2010. [read article]
Racism Everywhere by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, January 8, 2010 [read article]
Lani's Heir: The new, old racial ideology of the Holder Justice Department. By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review, December 21, 2009. [read article]
Counting Our Blessings: Things to be Thankful for. NRO Symposium, National Review Online, November 25, 2009. [read article]
Understanding Black Political Apathy By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, October 21, 2009, The Corner [read article]
The White-Racism Chorus By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, September 1, 2009, The Corner. [read article]
"Obama’s Missed Opportunity: Platitudes aren’t enough." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, September 9, 2009 [read article]
"The Obama We Need: The president should fulfill his promises of post-racial leadership." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, July 24, 2009 [read article]
"The Supreme Court Says No To Quotas" by Abigail Thernstrom, Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2009. [read article]
"A Clear Win for the Deserving" by Abigail Thernstrom, New York Times Blog, June 29, 2009 [read article]
"A Wise Punt? Court Demurs on Election Law" by Abigail Thernstrom, New York Post, June 24, 2009. [read article]
"Not So Inconsistent" by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, June 24, 2009 [read article]
"Racial Progress Stymied" by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, June 23, 2009 [read article]
"Voting Rights Verdict" by Abigail Thernstrom, Los Angeles Times, June 17, 2009. [read article]
"Integration Now: The Supreme Court should scrap an antiquated and unconstitutional rule." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review June 22, 2009. [read article]
"New Haven's Racial Test: Merit doesn't matter for city firefighters." By Abigail Thernstrom and Stephen Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009. [read article]
"A Lot Less Talk: The last thing America needs is more obsessing about race." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, February 25, 2009. [read article]
"One Journey Ends" by Abigail Thernstrom, New York Post, January 21, 2009. [read article]
"Saying Goodbye" by Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, January 21, 20098. [read article]
"Racial Gerrymandering Is Unnecessary" by Abigail Thernstrom and Stephan Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2008. [read article]
"Great Black Hope? The reality of President-Elect Obama." An NRO Symposium. National Review Online, November 6, 2008. [read article]
"Gerrymandering Democratic Votes." By Abigail Thernstrom, Forbes, October, 23, 2008. [read article]
"Victory in the voting rights battle Barack Obama's candidacy is one of many signs that the U.S. has turned a page." By Abigail Thernstrom, Los Angeles Times, August 31, 2008. [read article]
"Obama in Black & White: Candidate as inkblot." By Abigail Thernstrom and Stephan Thernstrom, National Review Online, August 29, 2008. [read article]
The Volokh Conspiracy. Abigail Thernstrom, guest blogger. August 2009. [read compilation of posts]
"Examining the United Church of Christ." By Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom, Real Clear Politics, May 06, 2008. [read article]
"Voters Are Far from the Biggest Losers: Life after Crawford." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, April 30, 2008. [read article]
"Subtle, Serious, Patriotic: Barack Obama and a 'long march.'" By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online, March 20, 2008. [read article]
"Beyond Black Politics" By Abigail Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2008. [read article]
"Taking race out of the race." By Abigail Thernstrom and Stephan Thernstrom, Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2008. [read article]
"Separation Anxiety." By Abigail Thernstrom and Stephan Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2007. [read article]
"At Duke, the Massacre of Innocence." By Abigail Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2007. [reprint]
"Supreme Gibberish." By Abigail Thernstrom, The Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2007. [reprint]
"Racial Politics As Ever: Democrats will be demagogic; when will Republicans counter them?" National Review, March 19, 2007. [reprint]
"Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act: By Now, a Murky Mess," Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, Winter 2007 (Vol. 5, No. 1), pp. 41-78. [reprint]
"Reviewing (and Reconsidering) the Voting Rights Act," Engage (the flagship publication of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy), October 2006. [reprint]
Rule of Law. Michigan Prefers Equality. By Abigail Thernstrom, Wall Street Journal, November 11, 2006. [reprint]
The Souls of American Folk. Book review of Juan Williams, Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America and What We Can Do About It. Abigail Thernstrom, National Review, November 6, 2006 [reprint]
"Steele Sense: From white racism to White Guilt, America still struggles with race. " By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online (NRO), May 10, 2006 [reprint]
"Moving Out: The stable poverty of New Orleans has been shaken up, and that's good." By Abigail Thernstrom, National Review Online (NRO), April 13, 2006 [reprint]
"Bad Standards: The ABA goes to the Grutter." by Abigail Thernstrom & Roger Clegg, National Review Online (NRO), March 16, 2006 [reprint]
"Birth of a Gerrymander: The Supreme Court can finally bring sanity to voting rights law." by Abigail Thernstrom, The Weekly Standard, February 20, 2006. Vol 011, Issue 22. [reprint]
"Who’s Playing Politics? It’s the Left, not the Right, that’s out of order in Texas," (with Edward Blum & Roger Clegg), National Review Online (NRO), January 24, 2006. [reprint]
"Gerrymander Slander: Democrats Cry Foul on Texas Redistricting," (with Edward Blum), National Review Online (NRO), December 6, 2005. [reprint]
"One Person, One Vote," Wall Street Journal, December 5, 2005, A21. (On Judge Alito and reapportionment.) [reprint]
"Busting Busing Myths: Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom say 'school segregation' is a diversion," New York Sun, November 1, 2005, A9. [reprint]
"Lessons Not Learned: Jonathan Kozol's analysis of American schools is worthy of a third-grader," (book review), Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2005. [reprint]
"Concentrate on Learning, Not Schools' Racial Mix: A Response to Kozol" Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2005, A21. Letters to the Editor [reprint]
"Minority Political Power is a Fact of Life," Boston Globe (debate with Senator Edward Kennedy), August 21, 2005. [reprint]
"Roberts, misjudged," Los Angeles Times, op-ed, August 11, 2005. [reprint]
"Crossing over to freedom: Civil Rights Act worth celebrating, but it was never justified in Texas situation," (with Edward Blum), Houston Chronicle, August 6, 2005. [reprint]
"Voting Rights Act: After 40 Years, It's Time for Virginia to Move On . . . ," (with Edward Blum), Richmond Times-Dispatch, guest columnist, August 1, 2005. [reprint]
"Talk About Affirmative Action: John Roberts could make a big difference on the Court," (with Stephan Thernstrom), National Review Online (NRO), July 28, 2005. [reprint]
"Emergency Exit," The New York Sun, op-ed, July 29, 2005. [reprint]
"Do the Right Thing," (with Edward Blum), Wall Street Journal, op-ed, July 15, 2005, p. A10. [reprint]
"Closing the Racial Gap in Education (with Stephan Thernstrom), The Ripon Society’s Congressional Report: Public Policies for Debate, 2005 , pp. 41-50.
"Secrecy and Dishonesty: The Supreme Court, Racial Preferences, and Higher Education," (with Stephan Thernstrom), Constitutional Commentary, (Symposium: From Brown to Bakke to Grutter: Constitutionalizing and Defining Racial Equality), "Spring 2004, pp 251-274. [link] [reprint]
"Wasted Vote? There Is No Such Thing," (with Howard Husock) Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2004.
"Have We Overcome?" (with Stephan Thernstrom), Commentary, November 2004, pp. 49-53.
"Redefining Rights in America," Wall Street Journal, op-ed, October 18, 2004, p. A18.
"No Excuses: Closing America’s Racial Gap in Learning," American Experiment Quarterly, Spring 2004, pp. 45-53.
"Closing the Racial Gap," The Ripon Forum, Summer 2004 (Vol. 38. #11), p. 22.
"Close the gap by teaching social skills," Philadelphia Inquirer, June 27, 2004.
"The Brown Decision: A Shining Moment," Education Week, May 19, 2004, p. 52 (back cover), debate with Derrick Bell.
"No, Brown Isn’t a Bust: Fifty years after the monumental decision, it’s popular to say that segregation is back. That’s hogwash," Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2004, p. A13. Contribution to symposium, "Brown 50 Years Later: Reflections on the Ongoing Struggle," American School Board Journal, April 2004, p. 63.
"One Drop of Blood," review of John D. Skrentny, The Minority Rights Revolution , (London) Times Literary Supplement, April 16, 2004, p. 27.
"Codifying a Double Standard," Symposium: The Supreme Court’s Michigan Decisions, " Academic Questions, Summer 2003, pp. 8-12. Guest Editorial "Deconstructing the urban NAEP results," (with Stephan Thernstrom),
The Education Gadfly (weekly bulletin of News and Analysis from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, January 22, 2004 (Vol. 4, # 3), p. 1. Reprinted in Education Matters, published by the Association of American Educators, April/May 2004.
"Martin Luther King's unfinished legacy," The Boston Globe, January 16, 2004, p. A16.
"Those who can't do," Review of Vivian Troen and Katherine C. Boles, Who's Teaching Your Children? Why the Teacher Crisis Is Worse Than You Think and What Can Be Done About It (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003) in Commonwealth Magazine, Summer 2003.
"College Rulings Add Insult to Injury," Los Angeles Times, Sunday June 29, 2003, op-ed.
"Affirmative Action is a Side Issue," Ann Arbor News, June 10, 2003.
"Is affirmative action needed? Preferences don't fix the problem," New York Daily News, January 14,2003.
"High Stakes Testing: Point-Counterpoint," Connections (New England Board of Higher Education), Fall 2002, pp. 38-40.
"Trent Lott's Blow to Civil Rights," New York Times, op-ed, December 18, 2002, A33.
"Schools That Work," (co-authored with Stephan Thernstrom) in John E. Chubb and Thomas Loveless, eds., Bridging the Achievement Gap (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2002), 131-156.
"Schools: Confronting the Race Gap, New York Post, March 29, 2002, p. 29.
"The Racial Gap in Academic Achievement," in Thernstrom and Thernstrom, eds., Beyond The Color Line: New Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity (Hoover Institution Press, 2002).
"Racial Preferences in Higher Education: An Assessment of the Evidence," (with Stephan Thernstrom), essay in Stanley Renshon, ed., One America? Political Leadership, National Identity, and the Dilemmas of Diversity (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2001), pp.169-231.
Review of Reaching Beyond Race by Paul M. Sniderman and Edward G. Carmines, Journal of Politics , May 2001 (v. 63 #2), 638-640.
"Admissions Impossible: California Without the SAT," (with Stephan Thernstrom), National Review , March 19, 2001, pp. 42-43.
"Affirmative Action," entry, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavior Sciences , 2001.
"Even in This Election, It Is Not Class Warfare" (with Stephan Thernstrom), Los Angeles Times , November 27, 2000.
"California Makes College an Entitlement," New York Times, op-ed, September 26, 2000, p. A31.
"Testing and Its Enemies: At the Schoolhouse Barricades," National Review, September 11, 2000, pp. 38-41.
"Diversity Yes, Preferences No," Academe (Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors), September-October 2000, pp. 30-33.
"Race-Based Programs and Good Schooling," Society, July/August 2000, pp. 44-46.
"Shooting the Messenger," review of Nicholas Lemann, The Big Test and Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds, (London) Times Literary Supplement, June 9, 2000, pp. 7-8.
"Trial Lawyers Target Three Michigan Judges up for Election," The Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2000, A 43.
"Answer the Census: The Alternative Is Worse," (with Stephan Thernstrom), The Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2000, A22.
"No Excuses," a reply to Deborah Meier, in Will Standards Save Public Education? (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000), pp. 35-39.
"Racial Preferences in Higher Education: What We Now Know," Visions & Values (the Alumni Association publication of Grove City College), April 2000. (Based on a talk given at the college.)
"We Need Answers on Metco," Boston Globe, March 27, 2000, A 13.
"Civil Rights: What Went Wrong" (with Stephan Thernstrom), The Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2000, p. A18.
"A Taboo Erodes: The Truth About Blacks and Education," National Review, December 20, 1999, pp. 22-24.
"Black Progress," (with Stephan Thernstrom) in Christopher H Foreman, Jr., ed., The African American Predicament (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 1999), pp. 29-44.
Review of Jonathan Coleman, Long Way to Go: Black and White in America in Journal of American Ethnic History , Fall 1999 (Vol. 19, # 1), pp.109-110.
"The End of Meritocracy: Should the SAT Account for Race? No," (Debate with Nathan Glazer) The New Republic, September 27, 1999, pp. 27-29.
"The Kids Are All Right: Why Fears that America Has Lost Its Moral Compass are Misplaced," a review of William Finnegan, Cold New World, cover article, (London) Times Literary Supplement, July 30, 1999, pp. 3-4.
Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom, "Reflections on The Shape of the River," UCLA Law Review, June 1999 (Vol. 46, #5), pp. 1583-1632. [reprint]
"Courting Disorder in the Schools," The Public Interest, Summer 1999 (Number 136), pp. 18-34.
"Testing, The Easy Target," New York Times, op-ed, June 10, 1999, A 31.
"Where Did All the Order Go? School Discipline and the Law," in Diane Ravitch, ed., Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 1999 (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 1999), pp. 299-327.
"Racial Preferences: What We Now Know," (with Stephan Thernstrom), Commentary, February 1999 (Vol. 107 #2).
"The Breakfast Table," (thoughts/columns on impeachment and other current news, published in the form of letters to Stephan Thernstrom) Slate Magazine (online), December 9-11 and 14-18, 1998.
"A Flawed Defense of Preferences," The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 1998, A 14.
"The Consequences of Colorblindness" (with Stephan Thernstrom), The Wall Street Journal , April 7, 1998, A17.
"Black Progress: How Far We've Come--and How Far We Have to Go" (with Stephan Thernstrom), The Brookings Review, Spring, 1998 (special issue on "Black America), 12-16.
"American Apartheid? Don't Believe It," (with Stephan Thernstrom), Wall Street Journal , March 2, 1998, A18.
Contribution (with Stephan Thernstrom) to a symposium, "Is Affirmative Action on the Way Out? Should It Be?," Commentary March, 1998, 51-53.
"Good News About Racial Progress," (with Stephan Thernstrom), Reader's Digest, March 1998, 74-78. Reprinted in a variety of places including The Rocky Mountain News , Sunday, March 22, 1998, B1.
"Treat People as Individuals, Not As Members of a Group," (with Stephan Thernstrom), Philadelphia Inquirer , Sunday, January 25, 1998, E7.
"Dialogue" with Prof. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law School) on the subject of race in the on-line magazine, Slate. Five exchanges that ran from October 14 to December 16, 1997.
"Going Toe to Toe with Bill," Newsweek, December 15, 1997, 35.
Review of W. Avon Drake and Robert D. Holsworth, Affirmative Action and the Stalled Quest for Black Progress in the American Political Science Review, December, 1997 (Vol. 91, #4), pp. 962-963.
"Who's Afraid to Debate Affirmative Action?" New York Times, November 22, 1997, A 29.
"We Have Overcome: The Good News About Race Relations," (with Stephan Thernstrom), The New Republic, October 13, 1997, 23.
"Black Progress: The Greatest Gains Came Before Affirmative Action," (with Stephan Thernstrom) San Diego Union-Tribune, September 21, 1997. (Reprinted in a number of newspapers.)
"The Real Story of Black Progress," (with Stephan Thernstrom) Wall Street Journal, September 3, 1997, A20.
"The Overlooked Story," New York Times, June 18,1997, A 29.
"One-Sided Race 'Dialogue,'" New York Post, June 17, 1997.
"Caught in the Skills Gap: Why the Progress of Young Black Americans Has Gone Into Reverse," (with Stephan Thernstrom) Times Literary Supplement, June 6, 1997.
"The Prescience of Gunnar Myrdal," (with Stephan Thernstrom) The Public Interest, Summer 1997 (No. 128), pp. 36-54.
"End the Double Standard," USA Today, May 22, 1997, 12A.
"Shaw v. Reno: Notes from a Political Thicket," in Roger Clegg and Leonard Leo, eds.,
The Public Interest Law Review (National Legal Center for the Public Interest, 1994), pp. 35-56. Reprinted in Anthony A. Peacock, ed., Affirmative Action and Representation: Shaw v. Reno and the Future of Voting Rights (Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1997), pp. 97-126.
"Voting Rights: Another Affirmative Action Mess," UCLA Law Review, symposium on affirmative action, Vol. 43, #6 (August 1996), pp. 2031-2057.
"Don't Mend It, Defend It," a greatly shortened version of the CEO report listed below. National Review , September 2, 1996, pp. 45-48.
"Don't End It, Don't Mend It, Defend It: Reviewing the Clinton Record on Racial Preferences," Center for Equal Opportunity (Washington, D.C.), Policy Brief, July 1995
"The Real Problem," (Remarks at the Eighth Annual Federalist Society Lawyers Convention, Washington D.C., September 23, 1995, panel on affirmative action), Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy , Vol. 19, #3 (Spring, 1996).
"On the Hill: Dole's Pass, A GOP Wimp-Out on Preferences," The New Republic, April 1, 1995, pp. 11-12.
"Captive Voters," in the "Soundings" section, City Journal, Winter 1996, pp. 12-13.
"From Scottsboro to Simpson," (with Henry D. Fetter), The Public Interest, Winter 1996
(No. 122), pp. 17-27. Reprinted in Center of Equal Opportunity, Race and the Criminal Justice System: How Race Affects Jury Trials (1996)
"Voting Rights at a Crossroads," Civil Rights Journal (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights publication), Fall, 1995, p.37, 40-41. Reprinted in Leadership and Government: A Reference Guide, (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Youth Leadership Council, 1995.)
"Two Nations, Separate and Hostile?" New York Times, October 12, 1995, A23.
"More Notes from a Political Thicket," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 44, #3 (Summer 1995), pp. 911-941.
Review of Michael Dawson, Behind the Mule in The Public Interest, Summer 1995.
"No, It's a Race-Based Game," (on a racial set-aside at the Boston Latin School), Boston Sunday Globe , August 20, 1995, A 87.
"Why Change What Works?" (on majority-rule), USA Today, June 30, 1995, 12A.
"Two Views. Racial Affirmative Action Is On The Way Out. Should Income-Based Preferences Replace It?," The American Enterprise, (a debate with Clint Bolick) July/August 1995. Partially reprinted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, July 14, 1995, B2.
"A Class Backwards Idea: Why Affirmative Action for the Needy Won't Work,"
Washington Post (Sunday "Outlook" section), June 11, 1995, C1. Reprinted in A.E. Sadler, ed. Affirmative Action (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1995, "At Issue": An Opposing Viewpoints Series.")
"Losing Race; California vs. Affirmative Action," The New Republic, (with John J. Miller), June 26, 1995.
"The Promise of Racial Equality," (with Stephan Thernstrom) in Lamar Alexander and Chester E. Finn, Jr., eds., The New Promise of American Life (The Hudson Institute, Indianapolis, 1995).
"Racial Gerrymanders Come Before the Supreme Court," The Wall Street Journal, "Rule of Law" column, April 12, 1995, A15.
"The Twenty-Fourth Amendment" and "The Voting Rights Act of 1965," (separate articles) in Donald C. Bacon et al, eds., The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), pp. 1998 and 2089-90.
"Endangered Species: Their Habitats Destroyed, White Southern Democrats are a Vanishing Breed," The New Democrat (with Andrew Hazlett), January/February 1995, pp. 17-18.
"Redistricting, in Black and White: By Any Name, It's a Quota," The New York Times, December 7, 1994, A23.
"Reflections on Race, the Central City and the Economy," (with Stephan Thernstrom) The Aspen Institute Quarterly, Winter 1994 (vol. 6 #1), pp. 88-104.
Review of Hugh Pearson, The Shadow of the Panther in The Wall Street Journal, August 15, 1994, p. A 9.
"Beware Electoral Apartheid," The Wall Street Journal, "Rule of Law" column, July 6, 1994, p. A 19.
Review of Nathan McCall, Makes Me Wanna Holler; Ellis Cose, The Rage of a Privileged Class ; Brent Staples, Parallel Time, review essay, entitled "The Futility of Black Rage," in the Times Literary Supplement (London), June 10, 1994, p. 14.
Review of Lani Guinier, The Tyranny of the Majority in The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 1994, p. A 12.
Review of Stephan Lesher, George Wallace: American Populist in The Washington Post Book World , March 20, 1994, p. 1.
Review of Paul M. Sniderman and Thomas Piazza, The Scar of Race in The Wall Street Journal , November 11, 1993, p. A 12.
Review of David Brock, The Real Anita Hill in The Times Literary Supplement (London), July 23, 1993, p. 26.
"Guinier Miss," The New Republic, June 14, 1993, pp. 16-19.
"Affirmative Action Backfires at Harvard Law Review," The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 1992, p. 17.
Symposium on "The Voting Rights Act and the Politics of Redistricting, Comments by Abigail Thernstrom," La Raza Law Journal, vol. 6, no. 1 (1993), pp. 85-91.
"The Voting Rights Act 25 Years Later," Civil Rights Division Journal, United States Department of Justice, December 9, 1992.
Review of Herman Belz, Equality Transformed: A Quarter- Century of Affirmative Action in The Journal of Southern History, Nov. 1992 (Vol. 58, No. 4), pp. 754-755.
Review of John H. Bunzel, Race Relations on Campus: Stanford Students Speak in Academic Questions , Winter 1992-93, pp. 97-99.
Review of Derrick Bell, Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism in National Review , November 16, 1992, pp. 58-59.
"The Drive for Racially Inclusive Schools," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , special issue on "Affirmative Action Revisited," September 1992, pp. 131-143.
Review of Mickey Kaus, The End of Equality in The Wall Street Journal, July 17, 1992, p. A 10.
"Education Beyond Politics: A Symposium," Partisan Review, Summer 1992 (Vol. LIX, No. 3), pp. 343-419.
"Protect Black Voters' Rights, Not Black Officeholders' Power," The Wall Street Journal, "Rule of Law" column, June 10, 1992, p. A 15.
Review of Ronald P. Formisano, Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.22, No.4 (Spring, 1992), pp. 762-764.
"The Right to Vote," in Kermit L. Hall, ed., The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 899-902.
"The Vile Circus at Harvard Law," The Wall Street Journal, May 1, 1992, p. A 14.
Focus on Children: The Beat of the Future , Report of the 1992 Media Conference at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, February 3-5, 1992, panel on "Education: The Search for Solutions," pp. 130-146.
"Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections," in A.E. Dick Howard and Melvin I. Urofsky, eds., Virginia and the Constitution (Charlottesville, Virginia: Virginia Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, Center for Public Service, University of Virginia, 1992).
"Beyond the Pale: The Limits of Racial Role Models," The New Republic, December 16, 1991, pp. 22-24.
"Rough Justice: The Plot That Failed," The New Republic, November 11, 1991, pp. 14-16. Reprinted in The New Republic's Guide to the Candidates (New York: Basic Books, 1996), pp. 99-101.
"Race-based Education Implies Inequality," Boston Sunday Herald, September 29, 1991, p. 31.
"A Republican-Civil Rights Conspiracy," Washington Post, op. ed., September 23, 1991, p. A11 (Reprinted in the Atlanta Constitution.)
"Hobson's Choice: The Trouble with Vouchers," The New Republic, July 15-22, 1991, pp. 13-16.
Review of Thomas Sowell, Preferential Policies: An International Perspective in The American Political Science Review , Vol. 85, No. 2 (June 1991), pp. 600-601).
"Why Catholic Schools Work," New York Newsday, June 6, 1991
"Out-Classed: Why Parochial Schools Beat Public Ones," The New Republic, May 13, 1991, pp. 12-14.
"Affirmative Action: Solution or Problem?" The Christian Science Monitor, January 18, 1991, p. 19.
"The Will of the People: A Current Assessment," in George R. Johnson, Jr., ed., The
Will of the People: The Legacy of George Mason Vol. VI (Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press, 1991).
Review of John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe, Politics, Markets and America's Schools in The Public Interest , Fall 1990 (No. 101), pp. 142-132.
"On the Scarcity of Black Professors," Commentary, Vol. 90, No. 1 (July 1990), pp. 22- 26.
"The 1990 Civil Rights Bill Is Wrong," Wall Street Journal, May 4, 1990, p. A 10.
"Bilingual Miseducation," Commentary, Vol. 89, No. 2 (Feb. 1990), pp. 44-48.
"Permaffirm Action," The New Republic, July 31, 1989, p. 17.
"Power Bases, Or Little Ghettos?" New York Newsday, June 15, 1989, p. 82.
Review of William M. Lunch, The Nationalization of American Politics in Political Science Quarterly , Fall 1988 (Vol. 103, #3).
"Justice Hugo Black: Local Control and Federalism," Alabama Law Review, Vol. 38, No 2 (Winter 1987). Reprinted in Tony Freyer, ed., Justice Hugo Black and Modern America (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1990), pp. 279-304. (With Timothy G. O'Rourke.)
"Statistics and the Politics of Minority Representation: The Evolution of the Voting Rights Act Since 1965," in William Alonso and Paul Starr, eds., The Politics of Numbers (New York: The Russell Sage Foundation, 1987).
Review of Howard Schuman, Charlotte Steeh, and Lawrence Bobo, Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations in The Public Interest, Fall 1986 (No. 85), pp. 96-101.
"Voting Rights Trap: The Resegregation of the Political Process," The New Republic, September 2, 1985.
"The Right of Ethnic Minorities to Political Representation," in Charles Fried, ed., Minorities: Community and Identity (Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1983).
"Voting Rights Act: Time to Think," Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1981, op.ed., II, 5 (a longer version of the Washington Post piece).
"Voting Rights: To What Are Minorities Entitled?" Washington Post, August 4, 1981, op.ed., A 15.
Review of Clayborne Carson, In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s in The New Republic, July 25, 1981.
"Bilingual Mis-Education: It's Spanish for Segregation," The New Republic, April 18, 1981.
"E Pluribus Plura--Congress and Bilingual Education," The Public Interest, No. 60, Summer 1980.
"Language Issues and Legislation," Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980), pp.619-629.
Review of Robert O'Neil, Discriminations Against Discrimination in The Times Literary Supplement , April 1,1977.
Review of Jerold Auerbach, Unequal Justice in The New Republic, May 22, 1976.
Misc. pieces for The Economist(American survey section, unsigned). Among the topics covered: health insurance in Massachusetts; universities and donors; the elderly as a political lobby; racism on the campus; English-only referenda; sister cities; universities and censorship.

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