The affirmative action fable.

If you listen to some folks, America's slow march to a "color blind" society took another giant step today.


The Supreme Court, in a 6-2 ruling, is making sure of it by declaring that voters in the state of Michigan can ban race from being considered by that state's flagship university in admissions. (I see you Uncle Clarence)


Personally, I would have no problem with this concept if America's history was a little different. Sadly, though, we know that is not the case. We know that the history of this country is such that she is not quite ready to put everyone in a similar situation and expect that we are going to have equal results.


This is not only true when it comes to race; it is true when it comes to poverty as well. I have no problem with a college or university using things such as economic background, geography, and race to create a diverse student body. Unfortunately there are some folks in the majority population who always default to us against them (the them being those black folks) when it comes to this particular discussion.


When we talk about affirmative action, we often think of those Negroes with their "hands out". I suspect that this is why the Supreme Court decision today was so popular in certain circles.


We forget, of course, that white women are the biggest beneficiaries of affirmative action, and that many successful small businesses got that way because of affirmative action.


"Justice Anthony Kennedy said voters chose to eliminate racial preferences, presumably because such a system could give rise to race-based resentment. Kennedy said nothing in the Constitution or the court's prior cases gives judges the authority to undermine the election results.


"This case is not about how the debate about racial preferences should be resolved. It is about who may resolve it," Kennedy said.


In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision tramples on the rights of minorities, even though the amendment was adopted democratically.


"But without checks, democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups," said Sotomayor, who read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor in dissent."


Justice Sotomayor must have not gotten the memo: There are no more "minorities" in America. In the new "color blind" America we are all one. *sarcasm off*








  

"I am very troubled that you would repeatedly over a decade or more make statements" like the one in 2001..

Living in A-merry-ca sometimes makes me wonder if I am not playing a character in one of those crazy Mel Brooks movies.


Is that Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) sitting across from, and sitting in judgement of, Sonia Sotomayor, while she tries to become the first Hispanic member of the supremes? (Cardozo doesn't count, he was Portuguese.) Please say it ain't so. Talk about the theater of the absurd.


Here is a man who openly despises anything [or anyone] having to do with civil rights; was cool with the KKK until he found out that some of them smoked pot, and called a black subordinate "boy" on quite a few occasions, while telling him to watch how he addressed white folks. And this man is sitting in judgment of Sotomayor and implying that she is a racist? Wow! Now that takes big ones. Only a republican could pull that off.

The irony of this entire episode is so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Sessions, himself, was shot down for a federal bench because of his little race problem, and now, like a bad horror movie, the GOP has brought him back. This time to be their face of these confirmation hearings. Nice.

This cannot sit well with my black friends in the republiklan party (Oh yes, I am on them again) and some of them have not been shy about making their feelings known about it. I can't say that I blame them. I would be pissed off as well. You would think my fiends (that's a typo but I am leaving it. It fits) from the party of Lincoln (oh, and let's not forget MLK) would be smarter than this. Alienating an entire voting block (Hispanics) by having your racist front man beat up on one of their own might be good red meat (no pun intended) to throw to your base, but it's dumb politics.


Of course, some on the right don't see it that way. They see it as a vindication of sorts: Mr. Sessions comes to Washington, the very place that sent him packing back to Alabama over 20 years ago. To them, he has come full circle, and now he is leading the charge against the evil liberal appointee to the highest court in the land. It's exactly this type of thinking that has caused folks like Byron York (the clown whose article I linked) and the rest of the people on the right to be banished to the political wilderness. A place where they could find themselves dwelling for years to come. Here is the thing: Old white men aren't getting any younger, and they will all eventually die. It is time that they (The GOP) adjust to the political landscape, or I am afraid that the party of Lincoln (and King*rolling eyes*) will die right along with them.


I am sorry, but while looking at that picture of old Jeff, I see a man who as a kid watched some strange fruit hanging from trees down in Southern Alabama while his daddy and granddaddy drank moonshine. Oh field, stop it! The man flat out denied that he was a racist at his own confirmation hearing. “I am not a racist” Now tell me, if the man was a racist for crying out loud, would he have said that? Ahhh yes. In fact, that is exactly why he would say it. Here is the thing: if you have to declare that you are not a racist, there is a pretty good chance that you just might be one. Ok wise guy, consider this:


"A few years ago, when Sessions appeared on “Meet the Press” to discuss confirmations, he found himself staring at an old image of Kennedy speaking in 1986. “Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past,” Kennedy said. It wasn’t something Sessions enjoyed reliving.
'That was the most unkind thing that has ever been said about me,' Sessions says. 'it was exceedingly painful to hear someone of that prominence make that statement, and it was hurtful because it wasn’t true.”'



I know Jeff, It wasn't true about you. But keep probing. I bet we can make it stick to that Hispanic woman.

Laws, and the people who will make them.

You gotta love those folks in Alabama. Seems that the people of that great state have voted to allow businesses within the state's borders to pay Negroes half of what they pay each of their white workers. I guess it makes sense. They reason that it will be good for the business climate because in trying to attract corporations to Alabama, they realize that if you can pay the Negro worker (who usually are less educated and really live in poorer areas, so they don't need the money) less it will allow companies to save on their overhead. Some of the taxes that they collect from these companies will be used to fund Negro colleges in Alabama.

And most of the Christian folks in Alabama voted for this new law because they are good bible reading god fearing folks. Didn't Genesis 9:25-27 say the following? "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers. He also said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japeth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave'." See, it's ordained from god. It's the "curse of Ham". The good people of Alabama know their bible. They understand Colossions 3:18 and 4:1. They understand Peter 2:13 and 3:7. They understand the "doctrine of the orders of creation". They understand the biblical theory of an "elect nation". Thank goodness they voted the right way. Now Negro schools will be able to get much needed funding.

Field that is outrageous! You are lying, that did not happen. Well no, not in Alabama, but it happened in California, today. Yes my friends, unless you live on another planet, you have heard by now that the Supremes out there voted to uphold Proposition 8. That little biblical driven ballad initiative that makes it illegal for two consenting adults to get married to each other, because the good book says that marriage is between a man and a woman. So what's the difference between what happened in California and the little hypothetical situation I gave you? Let me answer that for you: Absolutely nothing!

Now to some other news today: Congrats on your pick O man. Looks like it's Sonia "from the block". Let's see now: Ivy League creds? Check. Judicial experience? Check. Great personal story? Check. The right hue and gender? Check. No controversial decisions? Check. Well I will be damn, looks like we have a winner on our hands. Big up boricua! On it's face it seems like a very nice pick. Conservative wingnuts will be foaming at the mouth (Aren't they always?). In fact, the drug addict already started. The theme for this battle will be "reverse racist".--- Over the next few weeks you will be hearing a lot about Ricci and Stefano. And no, it's not a fancy Italian restaurant--- Keep that in mind wingnuts. Now run off and get your talking points. This should be fun. Just remember who the people in the fastest growing group in these divided states look like.