File: powell final for Darby 2009] Created on: 3/15/2009 12:55:00 PM Last Printed: 4/3/2009 10:11:00 AM POST-RACIALISM OR TARGETED UNIVERSALISM 803 strategies that are both targeted and universal. A targeted universal strategy is one that is inclusive of the needs of both the dominant and the marginal groups, but pays particular attention to the situation of the marginal group. For example, if the goal were to open up housing opportunity for low-income whites and non-whites, one would look at the different constraints for each group. Targeted universalism rejects a blanket universal which is likely to be indifferent to the reality that different groups are situated differently relative to the institutions and resources of society. It also rejects the claim of formal equality that would treat all people the same as a way of denying difference. Any proposal would be evaluated by the outcome, not just the intent. While the effort would be universal for the poor, it would be especially sensitive to the most marginal groups. Because institutions interact and impact the effects of each other, it will also be necessary to be mindful of the interaction of institutions. This is an approach that we have adopted at the Kirwan Institute under the rubric of opportunity communities or opportunity structures. This was also one of the key issues in Parents Involved where a majority of the Court acknowledged the interactions of institutions, and softened its requirement of conscious racial infraction to support race-sensitive policy intervention.86 At the same time, targeted universalism sees marginalized populations in American society as the canary in the coal mine, to borrow a metaphor developed by Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres.87 It recognizes that problems faced by particular segments of American society are problems that could spill over into the lives of everyone, just as the lower Ninth Ward was not the only part of New Orleans to suffer in the wake of Katrina. Likewise, the subprime credit crisis did not end in poor, urban communities, but has spread far beyond and has been felt throughout the global economy. In a time of economic crisis, the dangers are never greater that a commitment to racial fairness will be jettisoned to expedience or ostensibly universal concerns. This is a mistake. As the President has written, “[N]owhere is it ordained that history moves in a straight line, and during difficult economic times it is possible that the imperatives of racial equality get shunted aside.”88 As the experience of the New Deal initiatives illustrate, even universal policies, if not well designed, can exacerbate rather than ameliorate racial conditions. Many of the current proposals for spending the infrastructure funds look to divert much of the 86. Parents Involved, 127 S. Ct. at 2791–92 (Kennedy, J., concurring). In a complex real world setting, policies have unintended consequences and resistance that thwart policy intentions. It is critical that targeted universal policies set clear goals and use mechanisms to closely monitor and correct for negative feedback loops and other resistance to achieve those goals 87. LANI GUINIER & GERALD TORRES, THE MINER'S CANARY (2002). 88. OBAMA, AUDACITY OF HOPE, supra note 16, at 146.