Domingo Morel Books

Focusing on the historical and political factors behind community-centered affirmative action programs for students of color, the book examines the impact of protest, including violent actions, on maintaining college access initiatives. Through the case study of the Talent Development program, it highlights the emergence of hidden restrictions in response to the college expansion of the 1960s, revealing significant challenges faced by students of color. The work critiques conventional wisdom about college access in the U.S., offering a deeper understanding of its origins and implications.

"In Developing Scholars: Race, Politics, and the Pursuit of Higher Education, Domingo Morel examines the little-known efforts state governments undertook to create college access programs for "disadvantaged students" in the 1960s. Relying on historical analysis, qualitative, and quantitative methods, the book challenges conventional wisdom by showing how the urban uprisings of the 1960s created the political conditions that led to the formation of these programs. Moreover, through a case study analysis, the book shows how protest has been instrumental in the maintenance of a college access program. These findings help expand our understanding of the role of protest, including violent protest, in the process of policymaking and policy maintenance. The book also argues that these programs are part of the broader history of affirmative action policy in the US. However, while the conventional views of affirmative action policies are focused on the "identification" of high-achieving students of color to attend elite institutions of higher education, these programs represent a community-centered approach to affirmative action, based on a logic of developing scholars, who can be supported at their local public institutions of higher education. Finally, the book also reveals that in response to the college expansion efforts of the 1960s, hidden forms of restriction emerged that have significantly affected students of color. These restrictions, like secondary admissions processes to enter specific majors and more stringent credentialing requirements to enter the professions, have been shielded from public scrutiny and represent barriers that prevent higher education from meeting its promise of addressing inequality"-- Provided by publisher

In 1989, New Jersey became the first state to take over a local school district, in Jersey City. Since then, over 100 school districts have been taken over by their respective states, including in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Oakland. This book offers the first systematic study of this phenomenon. Based on historical analysis, case studies, and a dataset of nearly 1000 school districts, Takeover argues that the devolution of authority to state governments, which led to the emergence of state takeovers, was a response to the rise of Black political empowerment in American cities. At the same time it demonstrates that under certain conditions, state takeovers can advance Black and Latino political empowerment, contrary to conventional wisdom.