Landmark Supreme Court Decision?
So, what are we to think of the recent decision of the Supreme Court (SC) regarding the use of "racial tie-breakers"? First, I have to say that I do not have a complete understanding of how Seattle schools, or others, defines race. Thus, a few questions immediately come to mind. Do they use the old standard "federal five"? Do they use many more racial categories? What are they? If two students were vying for one position at a high school; one, your garden variety ‘white’ person and the other was a the child of recent US citizens who emigrated from Latvia three years ago (white folks by many standards of whiteness)…What would they do in this case…who gets their choice being that both are so-called ‘whites’? What if the two students both had brown skin?
To Ms. Kathleen Brose, the Seattle resident who initiated the law suit that wound up in the SC: With all due respect, I suspect you know little about discrimination. I say this not to slight you or your intelligence in any way. You are not alone… it is my belief that millions of people in our country do not either. Having said that, I would also say that as a woman, you most likely have experienced gender discrimination to some degree, whether you recognized it as such or not. In addition, I am a firm believer in giving folks the benefit of the doubt. Thus, I absolutely respect your choice to protect your daughter from what you viewed as discrimination. I wish all parents would be so willing (and able, but this is another topic) to fight for their child(ren). It would be ideal if a system could be devised that would reverse (no pun intended) racism’s effects without adverse effects on others. If you know how to do this, please stand up and be heard. I, for one, will listen.
As I’ve said, it is NOT a matter of intelligence. Rather the subjects of race, race relations, what is race, or more importantly, what race is NOT are simply not taught to the masses. I think we would be well informed and shocked by a poll/study on what ‘ordinary’ folks all around our country think “race” is or means. Sure you can learn about these issues as a Liberal Arts major in college, but our country needs a greater understanding…all of us, not just a few. Besides, I’ve been in a class or two like this, as have a number of my friends…from this perspective, many of these classes are a bit too one-sided and lack pragmatism. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, the intersections between these and other subjects, such as education, criminal justice, employment, poverty, banking, insurance, housing, economic systems, etc., need to be addressed, as the dynamics between and amongst each have widely varying effects on people.
Unfortunately our society’s ignorance of racism (inequity in general), past and present, leaves us vulnerable to bogus policies that pose as quick-fix remedies to enduring social problems such as racism. The overwhelming majority of us go through many years in our education system without having any substantial, research-based education on these matters, issues that affect us ALL in one way, to some degree or another. To offer one of many caveats, we cannot simply blame schools for this. People all over the country, such as parents, staff, school board members, lawmakers, etc., don’t realize the significance of this lack of education. WE are all responsible.
Writing for the court, Justice Roberts said, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." As great a sentiment this is, colorblind approaches will in no way solve our problems. Instead they delude us into thinking we are wiping away the residual effects of racism by white washing the Constitution. Viewing everyone equally under the Constitution fails to diminish the importance of race in America. Justice Harry Blackmun recognized this when he concluded "In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race."
The allure of colorblind approaches to racial discrimination is its appeal to a future society that is non-discriminatory, more just. What it fails to provide is justice, and justice requires us to deal with the past. As a society we cannot simply quit being racist cold turkey without relapsing into familiar patterns. Yet the Supreme Court embraces this strategy to eliminate racial discrimination despite its failure to work. The Supreme Court has grown forgetful of Justice Blackmun’s sage advice and our collective fixation on the future renders our nation insane: we expect different results, yet keep advocating the same strategy.
Discrimination continues as PEOPLE choose to do so, getting around, over and under our anti-discrimination laws in a variety of ways. This is not a new phenomenon. For example, as rights for so-called “black” people were expanded by the federal government during the late 1800s, state and local governments (people) had their own thoughts on the matter: Jim Crow. Even more recently, in the mid 1900s, the feds enacted the GI Bill to take care of our veterans, ‘black’ and ‘white’ who fought for our country. There was one significant problem however. Implementation was again left to state and local officials. If you think former Alabama governor George Wallace equitably provided resources to ALL veterans, I’m sorry, but you are deranged.
To further illustrate, it wasn’t until THIS YEAR that Alabama officially recognized the link between racial oppression and civil rights, apologizing for slavery. Perhaps if Justice Roberts and many others were truly interested in the end of racial discrimination they would demand justice in and an examination of how the following situations can occur in our times: (those that think racism is a thing of the past, pay close attention to the dates that each event below occurred)
1)Homeowners find records still hold blot of racism
2) Who’s missing in news about missing persons?
5)Terrorism by the Klu Klux Klan continues
Yes there are laws, rules and guidelines designed to protect, but they cannot substitute for the attitudes and sensibilities that are passed down from generation to generation. Deconstructing a few hundred years of racism in America CANNOT be done with a few pen strokes on pieces of paper called legislation, nor can it be done in less than a few hundred years. Only time can rid of us our lack of humanity, and only education in conjunction with rule of law can shorten that time in with any significance. That said, we have to start somewhere and education needs to be apart of the process, a fundamental part
