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I used to live in a country in which a handful of men and women, the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, had the courage to stand up in order to protect the interests of those for whom the promise of America was being undermined by public policy. In Brown v Board of Education the court held that public policy that separated young people on the basis of the color of their skin could no longer stand in the United States. Legal segregation based on Plessy v Ferguson, the decision that created the “separate but equal” standard, was no longer acceptable in the land of the free and the home of the brave.Effectively, the court is returning to Plessy. Reuters reports, “Roberts said in writing for the court majority that racial balancing was not permitted. “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” he said.” Roberts’ logic is flawed. By eliminating policy designed to attain racial diversity from the mix, the court is opening to door to an implied standard of “separate but equal” found in Plessy.
This court is not about courage, justice, or equity. This court is about forcing a radical return to a period in our history that many Americans are pleased to have behind us. As the court undercuts the decisions of the past 50 years I am fearful that the America I have known will rapidly disappear and we will return to a society in which racial. religious, gender, and sexual orientation will not only be “legally” acceptable, it will become an ugly reality. We will return to segregated schools, religious persecution, back alley abortions, and homophobic discrimination. What kind of an example for the world will America be then?
“This court is not about courage, justice, or equity.” And I am thankful for that; it is about upholding the constitution which it did yesterday. The government shouldn’t make decisions based on race.
Oh roger you are really stretching it on this one. Are you telling me that in order for Bblack kids to prosper they have to be sitting next to White, Asian, etc kids?
There is a huge difference between mandatory forced segregation and voluntary segregation. Just like there is a huge difference between mandatory forced integration and voluntary integration. I could go on and on about this one starting with is “achievement gap” BS that is put out there.
We will return to segregated schools, religious persecution, back alley abortions, and homophobic discrimination.
You know that this is not true. Please tell me that you don’t believe this.
What the court did was to effectively return to the standard of Plessy, the intolerable condition of sanctioning separate but equal conditions based on race. By claiming that race is not an issue the door is opened wide to make race an issue. Denial that race is an issue is a failure to accept the fundamental architecture of a diverse society, one in which the rights of the few are easily trampled by those holding power. Race is one of the critical issues in America along with religion, sexual orientation and gender–not to mention people with disabilities and so on. Yes, I do believe that this court will lead us down the path of ignorance through denial of reality. I do fear segregated schools, religious persecution, back alley abortions and homophobic persecutions all of which will make the America I know a thing of the past. That’s why I could never vote for a Republican of any stripe. I believe in social justice, working for equality, and sacrificing in order to make up for the unethical discrimination of past generations–even those of which I had no personal part in. I believe that my responsibility is not to myself but for the widow, orphan and stranger in our midst and that if I exercise that ethical obligation now I will take care of myself in the process. This court is clearly part of the ME generation and that is a shame for America.
Roger,
If one wants to argue from a school funding standpoint, I can understand that, but to argue from a “diversity” standpoint is just crazy. Forced integration is not the answer. What about the folk (black, white, etc) that want their kids to attend a majority black, white, etc school? What about the folk that choose to live in neighborhoods that reflect their race?
What about HBCU’s. Should the gov’t forcefully integrate them and make some Hispanics, whites, and Asians attend them?
We are also looking at this from a black and white standpoint. What about Asians and people from the Middle East? There are a lot of Koreas that kids go to majority black schools because their store and home are in majority black school districts. Should they be forced to send their kids to majority white school?
In my opinion education is more of a class issue than a race issue. If I want to send my kids to an excellent school, all I have to do is get an apartment in a real good school district. If I want to send my kids to a crappy school, all I have to do is move to a crappy neighborhood.