Free Republic

Last week the Supreme Court of the United States voted that President Obama exceeded his authority when he granted exemptions from the immigration laws passed by Congress. But the Supreme Court also exceeded its own authority by granting the University of Texas an exemption from the Constitution's requirement of "equal protection of the laws," by voting that racial preferences for student admissions were legal. Supreme Court decisions in affirmative action cases are the longest running fraud since the 1896 decision upholding racial segregation laws in the Jim Crow South, on grounds that "separate but equal" facilities were consistent with the...

In the fall of 2008, the University of Texas enrolled 10,335 minority students, not including Asian-Americans. As far as Abigail Fisher was concerned, that was one too many. Fisher had made good grades in high school - a 3.59 average on a 4.0 scale - posted a score of 1180 on the SAT test and finished as number 82 in a graduating class of 674 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land. She figured that was good enough. Then came those dreadful words: "We regret to inform you ..." Fisher was heartbroken. Her dad went to Texas, and...

With the Supreme Court due to consider Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin this coming week, cases for and against affirmative action have been dominating the education news cycle. The progressive Century Foundation recently issued a report arguing that the Supreme Court will likely greatly restrict racial preferences in college admissions. Instead, argue the liberal authors, it’s time to use class-based admissions policies and other indirect ways to create “diversity” on campus. You can read my recent blog entry, “Racial Preferences Under Review,” for more details on this Supreme Court case and The Century Foundation’s proposals. A recent poll...

  Supporters call it "financial services reform." Yet one has to wonder what the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 is reforming or stabilizing. The House on Wednesday by a 237-192 margin passed the 2,300-plus-page conference bill designed to protect American households from predatory practices by banks, subprime lenders, brokerage houses and other intermediaries. But evidence suggests that if it becomes law, the bill instead will lay the groundwork for another major federal bailout. During House-Senate conference sessions, affirmative action zealots inserted a host of mandates to promote credit allocation by race. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank,...

And on page 879 is one detail that few know about. A friend of mine, Allan Favish, has discovered the bill includes race preferences. In an article written for the American Thinker, Favish says the bill specifies that the secretary of Health and Human Services, “in awarding grants or contracts under this section … shall give preferences to entities that have a demonstrated record of … training individuals who are from underrepresented minority groups or disadvantaged backgrounds.” The bill doesn’t say what would qualify as a “demonstrated record,” so if ObamaCare passes you can expect that medical schools and other...

IT'S WELL KNOWN that innovation is the lifeblood of the Massachusetts economy. At every period of stagnation or decline over the past 400 years, someone's bright ideas have turned the tide. Too little valued, however, is the central role played by minorities and women in helping Massachusetts thrive. This morning, the state's political, business, and civic leaders will spotlight the contribution of a diverse workforce to the region's success, and challenge each other to do more. Much more. A 2006 report by the Boston History and Innovation Collaborative found that of 64 game-changing innovations in Massachusetts - from wiping out...

Engineered Plastic Products Inc. exemplified success as an auto supplier, making its recent downfall all the more disheartening for other minority suppliers. Gerald Edwards led the company for more than 15 years and along the way gained praise and acknowledgment from one of its major customers, General Motors, including five consecutive supplier-of-the-year awards from 1999 to 2003, according to Automotive News. But the decline of Detroit's big three automakers had forced the plastic-parts makers to a Chapter 11 filing in March and complete shutdown on June 30. Glenda Gill, executive director of the automotive project for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, echoed...

The ABA orders law schools to practice racial preference--even if they have to break the law. According to its mission statement, a primary goal of the American Bar Association is to "promote respect for the law." In the interest of mandating racial preferences in admissions, however, the ABA has just ordered law schools to do the opposite--in fact, to violate the law--and is resorting to blackmail to achieve its end. Meeting in Chicago this past weekend, the ABA's Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted in favor of "equal opportunity and diversity" standards. Under...

Excuses, Excuses… By Rev. Wayne Perryman April 6th, 2005 During Bush’s first term he received much criticism for his position on racial preferences in hiring practices, and for calling the University of Michigan’s points program for minority students, “constitutionally flawed.” For the past 30 years Republicans have argued that our system should be color-blind and that hiring and selection should be based solely on qualifications and not on racial preference and quotas. Democrats have argued that in order to right the wrongs of the past, minorities needed something better than a color-blind system, they needed Affirmative Action. During these ongoing...

I AM AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND would like to be considered for the National Achievement Award." I paused, holding my #2 pencil, and briefly reconsidered my decision. After a few moments, the proctor gave instructions for filling out the next section of the PSAT. I moved on, leaving the circle empty. Several months later, my guidance counselor congratulated and scolded me. She was pleased that I had qualified as a National Merit scholar. She was disappointed that I had not asked to be considered for National Achievement, the reduced standards honor offered to black students who rarely qualify for National Merit. Despite...

The system and tradition for college admission in this country is too twisted. Generally speaking, a student in high school pas the final exam, and get graded regardless of his race, national origin, height, or weight. A good college may have too many applicants, and therefore would pick the top grades, until it fills all its seats, the less prestigious school, would get the students with lesser grades, and so on. Enter the American rational for social engineering, now if your father went to this college, or contributes money to it you would get preference! That is the first injustice...

Washington, D.C., January 10, 2003—Today, Former Education Secretary and co-director of Empower America William J. Bennett sent a memo to the White House and the U.S. Congress urging them to embrace a true civil rights agenda based on colorblind policies and equal opportunity for all. Bennett advises that in the coming year a civil rights agenda should be crafted around three action items: • Ending the double standard of racial preferences in higher education admissions: The Bush Administration and Members of Congress should immediately file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiffs in Grutter v....

Should affirmative action play a role in American society? The Supreme Court is to get involved in the affirmative action debate as it plans to rule on whether colleges can use race as a factor in their admissions policies. A number of white applicants to the University of Michigan claim they were turned down because of their race and now the court will rule on whether affirmative action should be a component of higher education admissions. Supporters of affirmative action argue it leads to more representative institutions, while critics claim it is unfair and discriminatory. Should affirmative action play a...

arch 1 marked another victory in the ongoing war against the use of race- and gender-based quotas by city and county governments. Responding to a lawsuit filed by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, U.S. magistrate judge Brent McKnight signed an order ordering Charlotte, N.C., to abandon its quot;Minority and Women's Business Developmentquot; contracting program in favor of one that is race- and gender-neutral. The order also granted $300,000 in damages to the construction company plaintiff that was discriminated against.The case represents yet another victory for the Atlanta-based foundation, which has successfully gone to court to dismantle quota contracting programs in...