Posted by
Diocuore on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 5:55:59 PM
''For hundreds of years, white males have enjoyed more than 95 percent of the best jobs, the best housing, the best incomes, the best health care, whether they were best suited or not. When small steps are taken to level the playing field, the court determines that no inconvenience to white applicants is permissible. The firefighters had no "right" to be promoted, merely an opportunity.''
New Haven, Conn., is a city in which African Americans and Hispanics account for nearly 60 percent of the population; yet, by order of the U.S. Supreme Court, the city must be served --"as it was in the days of undisguised discrimination -- by a fire department in which members of racial and ethnic minorities are rarely seen in command positions."
Today's ruling is deeply flawed and should not be the law of the land.
In assessing claims of race discrimination, "context matters." Grutter vs. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 327 (2003). In June 2003, the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in higher education admission decisions. In that case, Justice Ginsburg stated what was obvious to civil rights activists: The law ought to be able to distinguish between the use of race to include a historically discriminated against racial or ethnic group and the use of race to exclude. Despite her instruction, we have not learned the lesson.
Context does matter. Six years ago, the U.S. military led the way in support of affirmative action, arguing that the nation was less safe without black and brown officers. For the U.S. military, integration of officer ranks was as important a job qualification as knowing military history or aerospace engineering. We think it matters in other contexts, as well.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/jackson/1644864,CST-EDT-jesse30.article