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Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected Louisville, Ky., and Seattle, Wa., diversity plans because they were based solely on race for school assignments but the Court left the door open for using race in limited circumstances.
The court split, 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the court’s judgment. The court’s four liberal justices dissented.
The districts “failed to show that they considered methods other than explicit racial classifications to achieve their stated goals,” Roberts said.
Yet Justice Anthony Kennedy would not go as far as the other four conservative justices, saying in a concurring opinion that race may be a component of school plans designed to achieve diversity.
To the extent that Roberts’ opinion could be interpreted to foreclose the use of race in any circumstance, Kennedy said, “I disagree with that reasoning.”
He agreed with Roberts that the plans in Louisville and Seattle violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
Justice Stephen Breyer, in a dissent joined by the other liberals on the court, said Roberts’ opinion undermined the promise of integrated schools that the court laid out 53 years ago in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
“To invalidate the plans under review is to threaten the promise of Brown,” Breyer said.
I have grandchildren in school now and not my own children so I can’t speak too much to the question from first-hand experience except to say I know the schools in our city are integrated, but we are not as large a school system as these two cities.
I have always thought bussing children clear across town, when they have to stand at the side of the street waiting for the bus while it’s still dark and they don’t get home until after 5 pm in the afternoon, when it’s again dark in the winter, was not the best solution to the problem of integration, but it seemed to be the best solution fifty years ago.
Last night the Democratic presidential candidates apparently had another debate, and it included talk of this decision and of race.
I’m not going to review the entire debate except to say it was held at Howard University in front of a predominantely black audience, but one quote stuck out at me and has really angered me by what was said by Sen. Clinton:
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, drew the night’s largest cheer when she suggested there was a hint of racism in the way AIDS is addressed in this country.
“Let me just put this in perspective: If HIV-AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34 there would be an outraged, outcry in this country,” said the New York senator.
Haven’t we spent millions of dollars on HIV-AIDS research and haven’t we tried to educate the people in our country on how one gets HIV-AIDS? Haven’t we sent millions of dollars to help stop the spread of HIV-AIDS in Africa, which the last time I looked, was populated mostly by people with black skin?
Excuse me, Sen. Clinton, but you are using the race card to continue to divide our country by race and you are not trying to bring together the various races in our country. It works better for your party if you keep a split there and make it look as though it’s all the Republicans’ fault.
Here’s a factoid I’m sure you know, but just failed to mention: President GW Bush has spent more money on AIDS research and prevention than any other president in our history, including your husband who was his immediate predecessor.
Before this everlasting campaign for president is over I expect to hear the old Social Security scare used to get the old people to vote against the Republicans because it has proven to be a vote-getter in the past.
When are we going to get past this and talk about solutions and not try to make people afraid and angry? This is done on both sides, and I’m tired of politics as usual. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I am tiring of politics altogether.
Nothing new gets said in campaigns from one year to the next. We just continue to anger and scare voters but offer no solutions.
The Republicans are guilty of it too, and when I see the quotes I’ll put them up here.
Written by ~J~
Ayschlay Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 9:44 amVisit Ayschlay
J, the Clinton quote comes to us isolated in the Fox newsbrief–it would be good to know the context of her statement. I wonder because the article implies she’s attributing the relative lack of attention to AIDs to racism, when I would think it would be homophobia she’s really addressing.
I’ll have to find her actual statement when I have time.
I think Clinton is making a common point, that health care services, spending, and research is skewed away from groups that have less power, wealth, and prestige. Think about Viagra–its speedy approval by the FDA and by insurance companies. Or, who is more likely to grow up in a neighborhood near a superfund toxic site? Minority children, who also experience higher rates of chronic illness, ergo, lower rates of educational performance, ergo. . .
Regarding spending–here’s the link to the Congressional Research Service’s report on federal AIDs/HIV spending. Table 2 shows total funding from 1981 to 2006–the trend since the 1980s has been upward.
Read.
The current administration has been spending more than prior administrations, though one could also note that the growth of spending has slowed quite a bit, which doesn’t quite match the bold African AIDS/HIV initiative announced in his 2003 State of the Union.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 9:58 amVisit ~J~
Yes, Ayschlay, it was a Fox story I quoted, but it was a wire story.
Here’s the Yahoo report and I’ll quote:
I’m sure you can find the same story in any AP story. It may have come from Fox News but they didn’t make up the quote. We need to leave our prejudices over news sources behind us.
She was not addressing homophobia, but was playing to the audience, and I think you can see that from any of the stories.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 10:10 amVisit Big Mo
Great minds think alike, J! I had something of a similar reaction (well, except for the personal angle) and wrote about this over at HRP.
The answer to racial differences/problems is NOT more discrimination or continued discrimination.
Both Justices Roberts and Stevens understand what needs to be done. The Democratic candidates do not, as they’re too busy pandering, or accusing Bush/conservatives/Republicans of racism, yada, yada, yada.
Roberts: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
Thomas: “Every time the government uses racial criteria to ‘bring the races together,’ someone gets excluded, and the person excluded suffers an injury solely because of his or her race.” And “Indeed, if our history has taught us anything, it has taught us to beware of elites bearing racial theories.”
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 10:18 amVisit ~J~
I guess it’s the old conservative/liberal way of thinking we’ve been discussing. You and I see it as race baiting and Ayschlay sees it as harming the poor deliberately.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 10:22 amVisit ~J~
We will never get racial unity as long as people play these sorts of games in politics or in life.
You know what? I live in the south. I have two grandchildren here who have been in public school and one just got out of pre-school. They never notice the color of anyone’s skin and have friends who are the same. They accept them for people and not for black or brown people or different people.
My grandchildren in Texas are the same. They see people, and not people of any particular color. Skin color is not an adjective these kids use.
Maybe we will finally have racial unity when that generation grows up, because we certainly don’t have it from the people who were at that debate last night, either attending or participating IMHO.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 11:24 amVisit ~J~
For anyone who cares to read it the link to the transcript of last night’s debate can be found at the NY Times.
The part under discussion is on page 7 of the transcript and that was Sen. Clinton’s answer right out of the block on the question.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 12:01 pmVisit Big Mo
“Maybe we will finally have racial unity when that generation grows up, because we certainly don’t have it from the people who were at that debate last night, either attending or participating IMHO.”
AMEN! My sons have absolutely no concept of “race.” You know who will teach them that? “We” will.
I am so damn sick of “race” it makes me ill. Enough already!
And by the way, wait until you read my report on Zachary Taylor this weekend. Reliving the battles over slavery just increases my disgust over race-baiting, race-blame, racial oppression, racial hatred, etc.
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pmVisit Guss
J,
You know down deep inside that what Ayschlay Says his true. Many things go on in this country that wouldn’t be allowed if it were happening to the Caucasian race but because they’re black or Hispanic, it doesn’t seem to matter as much.
If you don’t want the Bush bashing maybe you should lay off Clinton bashing.
I quit posting and will not post again on this blog because every time someone mentions George Bush, you and Big Mo would accuse him or her off bashing Bush.
It’s hard to find a political story that doesn’t include George Bush. This is a political blog isn’t it?
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 12:43 pmVisit Guss
Big Mo, it’s awfully easy to be sick of race when you’re white.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 1:10 pmVisit Big Mo
Whatever, Guss. That’s a stock, and quite frankly, stupid response.
When my sons get older, they’ll be told they’re oppressors because they’re white. They’ll be told they “keep blacks down” because they’re white. They’ll be told that they’re automatically racists because they’re white, and blacks can’t possibly be racist, because they “have no power.” They’ll be told that all men are created equal, but some are more equal than others because of their skin color, and because of the past actions of whites, they must now suffer. They’ll be treated AS opressors and racists because they’re white by people on the left who have that same crap-ass attitude like you who think it’s “easy” to be sick of race because of a certain skin color.
Should I go on?
So don’t you dare tell me it’s easy to be sick about race because I’m white. It’s a two-way street.
And you know what? It’s long past time that people living with race on their sleeves start realizing that white people like me are not their enemies.
Sue Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 1:17 pmVisit Sue
Guss:
I was schooled both in this country and outside of it and sat in school next to children of all persuasions. I never once gave a thought to the color of their skin or their religious preference. To this day, I refuse to judge someone by the color of their skin and have raised my children and they are raising their children the same.
If you read the statement Mrs. Clinton made, it is truly race baiting. That is sad because this country needs to heal not be torn apart further. Would you feel differently if a white woman had aids than you would for a black women with the same affliction? Or would you just have compassion because another were ill. I think it would be the latter for you Guss..at least I hope I am right.
These were Mrs. Clintons own words, Guss, not an opinion piece which is why it is so newsworthy. She has put herself out there as a Presidential candidate and will be scrutinized as will they all. As long as the discussion concerns words they (any of the candidates) have uttered themselves then an honest debate can be had on the issue.
Ayschlay Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 1:57 pmVisit Ayschlay
J said: “I guess it’s the old conservative/liberal way of thinking we’ve been discussing. You and I see it as race baiting and Ayschlay sees it as harming the poor deliberately.”
That’s not what I meant in my posting. I was trying to say that Clinton’s statement doesn’t come out of the blue.
There are patterns of inequality that fall along social lines. But according to the logic of this conversation, if I say a certain group historical considered black experiences a disproportionate amount of health problems, and lack of educational and occupational opportunity, then I’m contributing to racism by using the term race.
But if we avoid the use of race, then we also get to avoid the question of why this particular pattern of difference, of inequality, exists.
Thanks for the link to the entire Clinton statement. I’ll check it out this evening.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 2:07 pmVisit ~J~
I quoted an AP article and linked to the full transcript at the NY Times so the questionability of where I got the words was gone.
You can read for yourself the entire debate and you will notice what Mrs. Clinton said the very first thing to the question that was posed.
I didn’t make that up, and I don’t consider it bashing her except if bashing her means I’m doing it with her own words.
This woman has a very strong chance of becoming our next president, and as such, we need to see how she will behave in office. One way to tell is by the words she uses in the campaign. She was in front of a black audience and she said that for effect and emotion and no other reason.
If she were to make that a part of her stump speech to all colors it would be different, but she is widening the race gap and not trying to close it. It happens every presidential cycle and I’m tired of it.
It stuck out to me because I am so tired of it. I honestly expect the Medi-scare card to be played by the eventual nominee if not in the primaries. That too happens every presidential cycle and it’s so predictable I’m tired of it.
Tell us solutions to problems and not just tell us the problem. That’s what I want in any candidate running for office and I’ll point out when they stray regardless of party affiliation.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 2:13 pmVisit ~J~
Ayschlay,
If I mischaracterized what you said then I’m sorry.
I don’t disagree things are not equal racially. I am an ethnic minority as Guss alluded to. I got the funny looks when I told someone I was Indian. He got it more than I did because his skin is darker and I have light skin, so when I left home I didn’t see that problem and didn’t see much of it personally when I was growing up. He did and probably still does.
I think what Mrs. Clinton said could have been said in a more diplomatic way such as, “We need to do all we can and spend whatever it takes to find a cure for HIV-AIDS so young black women and anyone else are not dying from this terrible disease.” HIV-AIDS is no respecter of color.
It would have said the same thing but not in a way to stir up the races against one another.
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 2:21 pmVisit Guss
Big Mo, That’s a typical response from someone who knows nothing of what they’re talking about. I’m sorry you and your family have been so abused growing up in a nation where white people are so disadvantaged. It must be horrible to live in slums and not have enough money to put food on the table. It must be horrible to not have money to put coothes on the back of your children so that they can go to school and hold their heads up high.
When you start calling people stupid, maybe you should take a good-look in the mirror and thank God that you were graced to be born white.
I’m not going to respond to any more of your name-calling because when it comes to this subject, you have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 2:31 pmVisit ~J~
Ayschlay,
We can debate this as to the needs of people who are not white and them not having the same type of health care or living conditions most others have, but the point of my post was the racist statement made by Mrs. Clinton last night.
Maybe I should do a post on the differences in how the races live in our country and we can discuss all of it there. I honestly think everyone here will agree with each other on the problems and may even see something they didn’t see before. If I’m wrong then I’m not a good judge of character in the people I know.
Read my comment on the illegal immigration thread where I mentioned we should be enforcing our northern border as well as our southern and both coasts as to focus just on the southern border seems rather racist to me. Terrorists entered this country from our northern border and murdered thousands of people. It’s important to watch both borders, and I will be happy to debate the racial inequalities with you or anyone else because I think we will be in agreement. We may not agree on the solution, but that is due to our differing political philosophies and not because we’re racist.
The bottom line is this thread is about a racist statement made by one of the top two Democratic presidential candidates and cannot go unanswered.
It was not written by someone at Huffington Post or a newspaper giving a review of what she meant; it was her actual statement and that’s why I don’t consider it bashing.
If I give an opinion or base a post on an opinion as fact then I am guilty of bashing anyone. I based my opinion on what has been reported as her own words and I deny I bashed her. I didn’t call her any names or question her intelligence. I quoted her directly and commented on the quote.
If anyone else had said it my reaction would have been the same, but the job of a president is to try to bring the nation together. How can you do that when you say reckless things like that in order to get a primary vote? If you mean it then say it at every speech and not just in front of a selected audience.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:03 pmVisit Big Mo
And Guss, you know nothing about me, or my family, or my extended circumstances, or who I’m related to, or who I’m friends with beyond what I’ve revealed.
YOU DIDN’T EVEN TRY TO COMPREHEND WHAT I WROTE THE FIRST TIME OR THE SECOND TIME . YOu just attacked with the “you don’t understand because you’re white” mentality. A pox on that.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:06 pmVisit ~J~
This thread is getting a little personal and we need to stop the personal attacks.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:23 pmVisit ~J~
I’m not going to get involved in the personal argument except to edit out what I think are inflammatory remarks, and it has been done on two peoples’ posts and not just one.
Having said that, I will agree we know nothing about one another except what we choose to reveal.
I do, however, know Guss as we grew up as brother and sister in the same house.
He was given a lot of trouble by the white boys in school and had to defend his “Indianism” with his fists or he would never have gotten home from school some days. We didn’t have a school bus and had to walk to the Indian reservation to the taunts of the white kids with no manners.
This was in the fifties and early sixties.
I remember going to purchase an air conditioner from Sears for my mother a few years before she died, and everything was going fine with the sales clerk and me until she asked where I wanted it delivered as it wasn’t in stock right then. When I gave her the name of the Indian reservation, for the first time in ages, I felt that cold coming from her and the uncomfortable feeling I had and I was angry with myself that this woman, who probably made way less than I did could make those old feelings come back.
Our experiences do stick with us throughout life, but it doesn’t mean someone else can’t see what we’ve been through and it doesn’t mean they don’t sympathize and want to change it where it happens.
I love Guss and I think very highly of Big Mo, and both of them have a right to their opinions. Neither should accuse the other of anything, because, as Big Mo has stated, we know nothing about one another except what we choose to reveal.
I want civil discussions on this site and that’s why I have edited out some parts of some comments.
Sue Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:29 pmVisit Sue
Guss:
It does not take a person of color alone to understand prejudice.
I remember living in more than one area in our own country as the child of a US military member and having our entire family shunned because of it. It was hurtful as a child to be excluded from activities and treated as a freak in some schools because of your fathers occupation. There were places where we could not rent a house and had to live on post because they would not consider a member of the US military a member of their community.
It is sad when we judge others at any time for any reason especially without first hand knowledge of the person themselves. It usually leads to hard feelings and sometimes wounds which never heal.
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:30 pmVisit Guss
Big Mo, I didn’t mean to upset you but thought that it was time that someone told you that some subjects are better left to those who have experience in the matter being talked about. If I hurt your feelings I apologize.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:39 pmVisit Big Mo
Guss, I apologize, I stepped over the line. To you too, J, and everyone else.
I have a temper, and it really does get away from mesometimes.
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pmVisit Guss
Big Mo, Back at you.
~J~ Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pmVisit ~J~
Good. Now I can go ahead with my plans to attend a Sunday School social tonight without worrying.
Sue Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 4:05 pmVisit Sue
I for one am sure glad to see we are all friends again.
This is a great group of people and when one hurts I think we all feel it just a bit. What I really like though is that we can all admit when we are wrong..don’t you just wish we could spread that around a bit?
Can’t wait for Sunday Big Mo. Always excited to read the next in your great series.
Have fun tonight J.
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 4:09 pmVisit Big Mo
I guess I can tell you some of the personal reasons why I feel so strongly on the subject of race. Here are four examples:
One day my wife and I were walking from our car to a local mall. We were quickly surrounded by four black teenagers who started berating us, getting in our faces and calling us white motherf***ers. We were scared for our lives. Fortunately, they laughed at us and moved on.
Second. My wife’s cousins used to live in a rough neighborhood in north STL county and went to a largely black school, where discipline was largely non-existent. Her cousins literally had to act “street” black to **survive**. Teenage boys would come up to them in classrooms and grab their crotches and tell them that “I own you, b****.” The school wouldn’t do anything. My wife’s aunt and uncle, who are poor, had to move across the state line to escape from that situation.
(Later, when one cousin dated black men (two nice guys, I liked them a lot, wished she had stayed steady with either one of them), they went to great pains to “deprogram” her from “street” black. Both A. and S., during the different times they dated L, treated her like a lady.)
Third. My step-mom is Chinese. Her native language is Mandarin. She speaks decent Japanese, and enough English to get by. But she’s sometimes treated like an idiot or a child—or ignored—because she struggles to understand “Midwest accents.”
Finally, just this very morning, my “crew” of church youth and my youth minister called me just after they crossed the border from Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas. They had been there building houses for the poor for the past week. I’m usually with them every year but stayed home to take care of family matters this time. They had a blast, and we missed each other terribly.
The houses are built in conjunction with Casas por Cristo, which has built thousands of homes for extremely poor Mexicans in Juarez for the last decade or so. Most of my “crew” is white, and even with tans, are no where near as dark as the Mexicans we help.
We build houses in the poorest section of Juarez—not because of “white man’s burden,” but because of the love of Christ. Skin color doesn’t matter a damn. Their need does. They are extremely poor but hard-working, we are hard-working and have the $$, and Casas provides the means. It’s beautiful. Truly.
I made a friend for life the first time I built a house. He had a couple of kids, a wife, and worked six days a week for Texas Instruments making $75 a week. He lived in a ramshackle shack charitably called a house. We built Jesus (hey-Zeus) and his family a two-room, fully insulated and electrified house in four days. And he wasn’t Christian, either. Or spoke any English. I’m white. He was brown. We met as strangers, but parted ways as amigos for life.
Sue Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 4:17 pmVisit Sue
What is so touching about your last post Big Mo is that at sometime in everyones life I think they are faced with a decision..will we respect others as we wish to be respected or will we use any means necessary to demean another.
We all need friends and not ones who look, think or act only as we do or we never grow and learn.
Thanks for sharing.
Guss Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 4:38 pmVisit Guss
Big Mo, Thank you for sharing that. If I had known, I never would have attacked or question your motives. It still doesn’t excuse what I did. Again I apologize
Big Mo Says:
June 29th, 2007 at 4:52 pmVisit Big Mo
Guss, me, too. Blogs are wonderful things, but sometimes the impersonality makes it far easier for us to attack and assume than find the person behind the name.
(Which — insert shameless plug — is one of the things I’ve picked up on studying the presidents.)
La Shawn Barber has an interesting lesson on that, too.
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2007/06/28/debates-comical-and-sublime/