Free Republic

This past week, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Titus dismissed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's contention that the use of criminal background checks for prospective employees unfairly discriminates against minorities. Titus labeled the EEOC's arguments “laughable.” EEOC Chairwoman Jacqueline Berrien called the Judge's ruling “clearly erroneous. Statistics show that minorities represent a disproportionate share of those convicted of crimes. A hiring policy that screens out persons with a criminal history will inevitably screen out more minorities. This is illegal.” Berrien conceded that “businesses may feel uncomfortable with the idea of hiring those with criminal records, but this must be balanced...

A new study gives college sports a B grade for racial and gender hiring practices, though the overall numbers have dipped slightly from last year. The 2012 College Sport Racial and Gender Report Card was issued Wednesday by the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. The mark for gender hiring rose slightly to 81.3 points from 80.7 a year ago, while the number for racial hiring dipped to 81 points from 82.2. The overall score fell to 81.1 points from 81.5.

As if more evidence were needed about the tragedy of black education, Rachel Jeantel, a witness for the prosecution in the George Zimmerman murder trial, put a face on it for the nation to see. Some of that evidence unfolded when Zimmerman's defense attorney asked 19-year-old Jeantel to read a letter that she allegedly had written to Trayvon Martin's mother. She responded that she doesn't read cursive, and that's in addition to her poor grammar, syntax and communication skills. Jeantel is a senior at Miami Norland Senior High School. How in the world did she manage to become a 12th-grader...

While taking some flak for doing so, City of Phoenix officials are standing by their decision to accept non-swimming minorities as pool lifeguards. “The problem with requiring swimming proficiency as a condition of employment is that minorities would be under-represented among those we hire,” City Parks and Recreation Administrator Alfredo Zote observed. “The Mayor has asked us to strive for a workforce that mirrors the composition of the City’s population. We can’t do that if we impose qualifications that have a disproportionate impact on any racial or ethnic groups.” As to whether the ability to swim might not be a...

Many ideas presented as "new" are just rehashes of old ideas that have been tried before — and have failed before. So it is no surprise that the recent "Growth and Opportunity Project" report to the Republican National Committee is a classic example of what previous generations called "Me too" Republicanism. These are Republicans who think that the key to winning elections is to do more of what the Democrats are doing. In effect, they say "me too" on issues such as immigration, in hopes of gaining more new votes than they lose by betraying their existing supporters. In the...

The catfight between former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and his replacement, Reince Priebus, has reached screech level, with Steele belittling the party's new focus on minorities as old news. Appearing on the "Andrea Tantaros Show," a nationally syndicated radio show, Steele called the GOP establishment that on Monday unveiled a $10 million minority outreach effort a bunch of "numb nuts" for ignoring the plan he instituted four years ago. Steele also sounded ready to beat up Priebus. Asked by Tantaros who would win in a cage fight, Steele said, "Oh, no question, I would clean his clock." How?...

The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus said she is concerned that President Obama has not yet appointed African-Americans to his second-term Cabinet. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) said Obama's appointees do not reflect the nation's diverse population — at least, so far. “I am concerned that you have moved forward with new cabinet appointments and yet, to date, none of them have been African American,” her letter to Obama states. “You have publicly expressed your commitment to retaining diversity within your cabinet. However, the people you have chosen to appoint in this new term have hardly been reflective of this...

Chicago Public Schools’ plans to close under-enrolled schools to save money could lead to lawsuits. An analysis of the 129 schools that CPS could close finds that African Americans will bear a large burden of the closures. The Sun-Times report found 117 of the 129 schools that could close are made up of a majority African-American students. Nine of the schools are majority Hispanic. In comparison, CPS, as a whole, is 41.6 percent African American, 44 percent Hispanic and 8 percent white. Meanwhile, the commission reviewing the district’s plan is siding with CPS in its final report. However, while CPS...

As CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman pointed out Thursday night, none of the eight coaches hired this offseason was of color. In all, teams went 0-for-8 in hiring minorities (or as Freeman wrote, “0-fer-black”). Though the Rooney Rule is in place and does lead to minority candidates legitimately interviewing for head coaching jobs, you also have to wonder how effective that mandate is. Well, the NFL has taken notice and plans to do something about it. Here's the statement from Robert Gulliver, the NFL's executive vice president of human resources:

As the battle for the gun rages on, an intriguing question came to mind: what if the NRA was mostly black and brown folks, would we even be having this conversation? Let’s take it a step further; what if mass murderer Adam Lanza was a young black, Hispanic or Middle Eastern male? The National Rifle Association is politically and socially powerful, there is no disputing that. They have their tentacles deeply buried in our legislative discourse and have successfully maintained their stronghold through many gun massacres and other gun violence over the years. Until this latest school tragedy, which is...

The biggest story of the past election was how President Obama’s team was able to get his interest groups to the polls and how correspondingly the Republicans feel behind on certain interest groups. It is clear Republican failed to capture the votes of Hispanics, Asians and other groups. So let’s take a look at where they are and what they need to do. To discover what happened one has to look at what the Republicans have been doing and why they failed to attract certain voters. The first and most important point is not that they have failed policies or...

Greek mythology, with its tales of Zeus, Apollo and Hera doesn't have a thing on the mythology that liberals have created around themselves. There's Bubba, the President who can feel your pain, BO the leader who has the ability to never be blamed for anything and, of course, the wronged woman Fluke who the gods granted free birth control for the rest of her life for not being allowed to speak to a committee...or something. Still, as you're about to see, the real face of liberalism looks a lot more like Medusa than Aphrodite. 1) Liberals are pro-capitalism: Many liberals...

When the election was finally over, and Barack Obama had been re-elected despite the bad economy and other strikes against him, there was a single quiet moment where the question was raised: What would the Republicans learn from their defeat? How, chastened, would they return to the national stage, humbled but committed to fix our common problems? Ah, hahahahaha . . . “In the afterglow of Obama’s victory, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Ayatollah Khamenei, Vladimir Putin and Chris Matthews, as well as millions of pot-heads, sodomites, pro-aborts and all common moochers, are sharing a collective thrill,” wrote Joel Richardson, in his “A...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The housing crisis hurt low-income communities and minorities more severely than other groups, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. "Lower-income and minority communities are often disproportionately affected by problems in the national economy, and the effects of the housing bust have followed that unfortunate pattern," Bernanke said in prepared remarks presented at the Operation HOPE Global Financial Dignity Summit in Atlanta. Bernanke pointed to homeownership rates for African Americans, which fell 5 percentage points over the last eight years, compared to a 2 percentage-point drop for other groups. While there has always been a gap...

The most widely offered explanation for Mitt Romney's defeat is that the Republican Party is disproportionately composed of -- aging -- white males. That is, alas, true. But the real question is what Republicans should do with this truth. There are two responses. The nearly universal response -- meaning the response offered by the liberal media and liberal academics (and some Republicans) -- is that the Republican Party needs to rethink its positions, moving away from conservatism and toward the political center. The other response is for conservatives and the Republican Party to embark on a massive campaign to influence,...

The Corner The one and only. Live Free . . . Or Die By Mark Steyn November 6, 2012 11:03 P.M. As disappointing for me as Mitt losing New Hampshire has been the down-ticket races in the Granite State. In 2010, Republicans won both House seats, the Senate seat, three-quarters of State Reps, 80 percent of State Senate seats, and 100 percent of the Executive Council. Two years later, Democrats have taken the governorship and may well take both House seats, and the vote tallies they’re racking up in hardcore plaid-clad North Country towns far from the Massachusetts border are...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The last weekend before the election means campaign volunteers will knock on doors and make their final phone calls. A group of volunteers focus their efforts on the minoriy vote: African Americans, Latinos, and Asians. "Lots of people have been knocking on our doors,” said Word of Faith Pentecostal Church Senior Pastor Wendell Beets. Volunteers from campaigns frequently stop by Word of Faith Pentecostal Church on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids. It’s a predominantly black church where sounds of worship bellow through the building Sunday morning. "We don't tell people who to vote for, but...

Maryland Republicans are driving efforts to overturn the state’s newly drawn congressional map in a referendum next month, but they are joined by a number of Democrats who say their own party has gone too far in crafting districts for political gain. Numerous Montgomery County Democrats are scheduled to hold a news conference Monday in Rockville during which they are expected to urge a “no” vote on ballot Question 5, which would reject the district map drawn last year by Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley and approved by the General Assembly. Critics have accused the map’s makers of lumping disparate communities...

MSNBC host Chuck Todd asked the co-chair of the Democratic party's convention, L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, why there are more Republican women and Hispanic governors: "Let me ask you though, this one question, why is it that the Republicans have elected more women governors and have two Hispanic governors and the Democrats don’t?," asked Todd. "Don’t have as many women governors and don’t have Hispanic governors, why do you think that is?"

I’m confident a significant portion (enough to win) of minorities and young voters can be “fruit to be picked” if the nitwit GOP establishment will at give it a try! The GOP establishment is long been locked in the prison of "conventional wisdom"... (and DAMN sure better break out soon!!!). Many college grads are graduating with mortgage sized student debt, no job prospects and living in mom's basement on dad's insurance. Yet they support Obama 2 to 1???? (Funny "math" indeed). I suspect much of their support is thin and can be wrestled away. If Romney/GOP can muster half a...