Volume I No. 83
 06-25-03
 A Muddled Supreme Court Decision
 { So, What Happens In 25 Years? }
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2003

 The long-awaited Supreme Court decision on the University of 
 Michigan's approach to ensuring racial diversity in its Law School, 
 finally came down today. And not surprisingly, the decision was 
 a muddled mess. On a vote of 5-4 the court upheld the right of 
 the school to seek a "critical mass" of Blacks, Latinos, and Native 
 Americans. 

 At the same time the court firmly rejected the notion of any form 
 of racial quota or "mechanistic" approach to the diversity question. 
 And so rejected the idea that the Michigan schools undergraduate 
 affirmative action program which allocated an automatic 20-point 
 to "underepresented" groups, was a definite no-no.

 But, the surprising and most revealing aspect of the decision was 
 Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's words included in the majority 
 opinion she shared with Justices Souter, Stevens, Ginsburg, and
 Breyer. O'Connor stated..."We expect that 25 years from now 
 the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary."

 Indeed.

 Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Justice O'Connor's words are most 
 revealing. This conservative-tilted Surpreme Court, just like most 
 of America just doesn't want to own up to the lingering effect 
 of institutionalized racism that still exists in American society 
 at virtually all levels. 

 And now, with Justice O'Connor's bizarre choice of words, an 
 equally bizarre countdown is now about to begin. But what if
 in twenty-five years the jails are still full of young African-American
 and Latino men. -- Instead of those men being in an institution
 of higher learning somewhere. And what if the schools and social 
 services in the inner cities are still underfunded and inadequate. 

 What then?

 Is America going to just turn it's back and pretend the "race"
 problem is over and done with? Will the wealth of this great
 nation remain firmly lodged in the hands of priviledged whites? 
 Will the social divide between the haves and the have-nots be 
 allowed to widen. With no other response than a mere shrug 
 of the shoulders?

 This nation remains afraid of the question of race. Perhaps, 
 because this nation was founded on a notion of equal justice
 for all. While the reality was one of bigotry, racial hatred, 
 and social injustice. On a massive scale. And slavery was 
 only part of the problem. -- But not the entire problem.

 So why the blinders?

 Back for a moment to Justice O'Connor's missive. Will racial 
 preferences no longer be necessary in 25 years? Look at the 
 question this way. Many white Americans dismiss the notion
 of  "affirmative action" with the sharp words. -- "I didn't 
 own any slaves." 

 What do those words really mean? Do they reflect an attitude?
 A change in the mood of the nation from the days when "civil
 rights" was a frequent mention on the nightly news. Just as 
 "human rights" is heard constantly, today.

 So thus, the responsibility for the continuing societal inequities
 of present day Blacks, Native Americans, and other people 
 of color is passed backward to our deceased ancestors.

 How convenient.

 Let's see...

 How far into the past should we go. 

 100 years?

 200 years?

 300 years?

 Even farther?

 "I didn't own any slaves"

 The problem of racial inequality hardly ended with the Emancipation 
 Proclamation. Consider for a moment the years just after the conclusion 
 of World War II. During that terrible war African-American men 
 did their duty, and went off to Germany, France, and Italy, and 
 were put under enemy fire.

 Just like the white boys.

 They got no exemption. No general said, "Okay, the blacks get 
 a pass because they aren't really fighting for what we are 
 fighting for."

 No kidding.

 But, when those "colored boys" came back to the United States. 
 Once again they were revealed to be second-class citizens in
 their own country. Even well-educated and distinguished black
 veterans could not buy homes in the clean, safe, suburbs that 
 were then blooming all over America. They could not get the 
 government loans they were in reality qualified to receive. And 
 property owners - outright - would not sell to Blacks. 

 That military uniform those veterans wore didn't mean a damn
 thing.

 Thus, hard-working entrepreneurial African-Americans were left 
 in crowded slums, trying to raise their children to be proud and 
 strong. And to have hope for the future. 

 Yes, some succeeded. But this is not some inspirational Hollywood 
 movie fantasy. This is not "A Raisin In The Sun" or "Claudine."

 For every Black family that succeeded in racing positive-thinking 
 kids, thousands failed. -- Merely because of the hopeless 
 environment they were stranded in. Meanwhile, white youngsters
 in the intentionally segregated suburbs rode off to school in 
 shiny yellow school buses.

 This was not 200 years ago. This was a mere fifty years ago.

 The effects of racist governmental policies had a devastating impact
 on the upward mobility of African-Americans. Forget for a moment 
 the ignorant bigot with a white sheet over his head. Institutionalized 
 racism, Jim Crow laws, and plain old racial hatred, is responsible 
 for the divide that still exists between black and white America. 

 So please with the... "I didn't own any slaves."

 No, Justice O'Connor. The question you should have posed was 
 in 25 years, will America once and for all be ready to face the reality 
 of racial prejudice. And to accept whatever means that may still be
 necessary to continue to combat that reality. Until the reality is in
 fact changed.

 A bizarre countdown is hardly an adequate solution.

 Let's deal with question of racial prejudice, forthrightly. It is time 
 to take off the blinders. And is it certainly time to stop passing the 
 buck backwards to those long dead. Or forward as if in a few years 
 some genie with a magic wand will have cleansed our society of 
 its one great sin.

 Racial injustice - the result of personal and institutional prejudice
 - is a continuing factor in American life. It is real. But, it is our problem 
 to solve. Pretending there's a level playing field out there already, 
 is not the answer. 

 And for once we must finally admit. The Founding Fathers can't 
 help us.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2003

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