This month marks the 50th anniversary of the report by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, better known as the Kerner Commission. This blue-ribbon panel was put together by President Johnson after the summer 1967 Detroit riots to analyze what caused such riots and how to prevent them, and it delivered, predictably, liberal claptrap. There are a couple of new books that use the anniversary as a news hook and lots of newspaper articles about it — some of which I discuss below — so let me offer as a quick antidote this link to a Heritage Foundation panel …

In her Oscar acceptance speech Sunday night, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand endorsed “inclusion riders.” I’m not an entertainment-law specialist, but apparently this is a proviso that top actors and actresses are being urged to stick into their contracts which demand “diversity” in the hiring of other employees by the employer. Putting aside whether this is a good idea artistically and morally, I want to point out here that there can be legal problems with it. The devil is in the details, but just to give you the idea: Suppose that a top salesman for a company said that he’ll …

A regional branch of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights late last year entered into a resolution agreement with the Milwaukee public school system that requires schools to assess whether there are racial disproportions among students being disciplined and, if so, to “consider steps that can be taken to eliminate the disproportion to the maximum extent possible.” But racial disproportions don’t prove racial discrimination, and the fact is that there is not uniformity among all racial and ethnic groups at all times and in all places when it comes to school discipline infractions.  The Center for Equal Opportunity …

A couple of months ago, an important paper by Althea Nagai — research fellow at the Center for Equal Opportunity — was published by the Heritage Foundation and released at a special event there.  At the event the paper, “The Implicit Association Test: Flawed Science Tricks Americans into Believing They Are Unconscious Racists,” were discussed by Dr. Nagai, myself, and Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute.  You can listen to the panel here and read the paper here. The following week, the Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky and I wrote a column on the paper for National Review Online, …

Last week, we honored Martin Luther King Jr., whose most famous quote is, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This year marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s death at the hands of an assassin; it is also the 50th anniversary of the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act. So there’s some irony in a recent news story: A Fair Housing Act lawsuit has been settled, with each plaintiff getting …

President Trump has announced that he is renominating liberal activist Chai Feldblum to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Why in the world is he doing that?” asks Powerline, and that’s a very good question (my only quibble with Powerline’s analysis is that this is not exactly being done in the dark of night, because I first saw it on the White House website). The EEOC enforces the antidiscrimination laws for the entire private sector, so it’s an extremely powerful agency, and all the more so because it operates largely outside of executive-branch control. I noted last summer that the …

On Thursday this week, December 14, Center for Equal Opportunity research fellow Althea Nagai, along with CEO president and general counsel Roger Clegg (that’s me) and the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald, will appear on a panel at the Heritage Foundation.  The occasion is the publication of a new paper by Dr. Nagai on the topic of “unconscious bias.”  The panel discussion is on “Why Claims of Unconscious Racism Fall Flat: Debunking the Implicit Association Test.” To elaborate:  Psychologists have developed a test that purports to uncover unconscious racism. Supposedly tapping into the subconscious, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures …

The Center for Equal Opportunity recently prepared for a donor a one-page summary of our achievements over the past twelve months, and I’d like to share it with you.  It makes clear that CEO, a very lean organization, really punches above its weight, and gives our supporters unmatched bang for the buck. 2016-2017 CEO Activities Report In addition to the Center for Equal Opportunity’s speaking on campuses and other venues, media outreach, and general research and writing (in National Review Online, Commentary Magazine, The New York Times, and other magazines, newspapers, and publications), here are just a few highlights of …

Happy Thanksgiving, CEO supporter!  One of the things we’re most thankful for here at the Center for Equal Opportunity is the kind and constant letters, phone calls, and emails we receive from all over this great country, supporting us in our work. Here’s an example:  We were recently contacted by a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, who reached out to us because she remembered that we frequently challenge on a national basis the politically correct narrative that blames all racial disparities on racial discrimination.  I’m including her email to us below – it’s very well done, and she makes many of …

North Carolina governor Roy Cooper (D) announced last week a statewide goal of 10 percent for government contracting with minority-owned firms (defined by race, ethnicity, sex, and disability). He’s not alone with such nonsense; indeed, New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D) has set a goal of 30 percent in his state. Now, it’s good to make sure public contracting programs are open to all, that bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin color, etc. either — whether it’s …