Posted on 01/10/2009 1:08:24 PM PST by T.L.Sink
The incoming Obama administration will have to deal with the issue of racial preferences sooner rather than later thanks to the Supreme Court's decision today to take up an appeal in an affirmative action case, Ricci v. DeStefano. New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci and 18 others sued after the fire department failed to promote them when they scored well on the department's promotion exam. Since too few black firefighters scored high enough to justify promotions, the city threw out the exam altogether. Ricci and his co-plaintiffs - including one Hispanic argue that their promotions were denied solely because of their race, and it's hard to see it any other way. The city says that they abandoned the test - which had been carefully constructed to eliminate any racial bias - because they were afraid that if they failed to promote enough black firefighters to satisfy affirmative action goals, they'd be sued for discrimination. A lower court threw out the case, and a Second Circuit voted against hearing the appeal. Obama tried hard to dance around the issue of affirmative action during the campaign, but his Justice Department will weigh in on this case. It will be interesting to see whether they have any new arguments to justify ignoring racial discrimination when it's practiced against whites (and in this case, at least, Hispanics).
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
But I thought you were ALLOWED to practice racial descrimination against whites! Some call it reverse descrimination. I look at it as allowing blacks to advance in anything other than sports!
I can’t stand obama. He is a communist. But on the topic of race i really don’t think he’s such a demon. I think he is more about votes and popularity than he is about carrying a torch for black people.
Forgetting about race for the moment, consider what would happen if an employer said performance on a test designed by the employer would be the basis for promotion, and then reneged on the promotion. He’d be sued, regardless of what the reason was. It ought to be a no-brainer without race, and racial discrimination, whether in the forward or the reverse direction, makes it worse.
Maybe we should apply affirmative action to football and basketball and demand that 70% of every team be white regardless of ability.
Right, and I think one thing that may be forgotten in all this contention is the SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC. Being a firefighter today involves some very important basic knowledge of chemicals, signs of arson, draft movement, prevention, safety and rescue, etc. I always ask supporters of affirmative action how they’d like to have surgery conducted by a doctor who was unqualified for medical school and who was “pushed” through to meet certain political quotas. I’ve not yet heard a sensible answer.
I agree and disagree. His autobiography, past associations, and his own mixed-race origins all suggest he is almost obsessed with that issue. BUT, since he’s in national politics he’ll be all things to all men and as a matter of expediency play the role of “moderate.” Aided, of course, by the MSM.
some folks just can’t stand what test results say about different groups
so they try to make the truth go away
Absolutely. Only a lunatic would want a society in which there were no objective tests to measure competence and capability. It’s insane but that’s what we’ve come to in regard to race - if you don’t like the test results, do away with the test!
I think Obama is projecting his own lack of daddy, crazy momma, and racial confusion issues on all of us.
He’s gone black personally but professionally he seems fond of leftist Jews or white wonks.
Helluva mix particularly right now this snapshot in history.
I don’t think he feels he’s ever really fit in anywhere.
I still have to pinch myself to wake up to the fact that this guy has been elected president. Forget about his sordid past - Wright, Pfleger, Rezko, Ayers, etc. - with virtually no serious political experiece, and with what little there is, ALL BAD. I really find it hard to believe that Americans could make such a choice. I know there are some ‘reasons’ - the economy, Bush’s unpopularity, etc. - but none of them seem to me to justify the election of someone who is literally such a joke in terms of our electoral history. God help us!
The majority of bills that 0bama authored were centered around African-American issues.
Vanity - Listing of the actual bills Barack Obama sponsered or co-authored. (Long)
55-57 percent of whites voted MacSarah....usually more than enough to win historically
not anymore
either whites nationwide start voting like they do in Utah and Mississippi or Wyoming or South Carolina
or Mexicans and other non-Cuban latinos start voting GOP
or we continue to lose which is likely because I don’t see any demographic changes to alter what is unfolding right now
i have never been more pessimistic in my adult life politically
I share your pessimism. Let me say at once that I don’t agree with many of Pat Buchanan’s political views but his best-selling book, “State of Emergency,” has as its subtitle, “The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America.” Even his harshest critics admitted the book is well researched and well documented. To arbitrarily select one quote, “Western - let us be blunt about it: white European civilization - is on its way out.” This particular quote is from John Derbyshire of National Review (2005). This is only one sentence from a million but the demographics are indisputable. It just isn’t declining birth rates among native Europeans but much more. I recommend the book but be prepared to feel more depressed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.