Category Archive

Supporters of the Center for Equal Opportunity know that I don’t like the “disparate impact” approach to civil-rights enforcement.  And while it’s a bad idea when used to challenge firefighter exams, criminal background checks, English proficiency, school discipline policies, policing, mortgage lending, and voter ID laws — to give just a few examples — I’ve always had a special place in my heart for its use by bureaucrats to challenge pollution that fails to strike the right racial balance. But, “[i]n recognition of Earth Day and Arbor Day,” the Obama administration recently highlighted those efforts in its own publication. Now, I’m …

A new report is out, purporting to document racial stereotyping and “microaggression” at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.  The latter is another addition to the jargon of political correctness, and is defined as slights or snubs, often unintentional, but which communicate derogatory or negative messages.  From the first news story I saw on this study: “‘They [i.e., students] shared very detailed personal stories of experiencing racism on campus,’ [report coauthor Stacy] Harwood said. For example, some students said they heard classmates comment that racial minorities were less qualified and only admitted because of affirmative action. Others said their advisers encouraged them …

The New York Times had a long editorial-screed over the weekend, titled “Forcing Black Men Out of Society.”  It’s a predictable lament:  The racist war on drugs has unfairly imprisoned large numbers of black men, and this has made it harder for them to get jobs when they get out, and it has made it impossible for black women to marry and so they instead have children out of wedlock.  What’s more, the fact that so many blacks go to prison reinforces racist stereotypes, so that African Americans can’t get jobs even when they don’t have a criminal record, and …

The Center for Equal Opportunity recently sent this letter to the District of Columbia’s attorney general, Karl Racine: Dear Attorney General Racine, We are writing with regard to this news story, which says that [a District of Columbia councilmember] and the American Civil Liberties Union have asked you to consider the legality of a proposed new high school’s gender exclusivity. We respectfully request that, at the same time, you also consider the legality of the racial exclusivity of such programs.  We don’t know if the new high school is supposed to be limited to people of certain races, but obviously …

Supporters of the Center for Equal Opportunity know that we are playing an important role in trying to end racial preferences in university admissions across the country, and have been especially active in Abigail Fisher’s lawsuit against the University of Texas.  Well, a cert petition has now been filed on behalf of Ms. Fisher by her lawyers with the Supreme Court, asking that review be granted of the latest court of appeals decision against her. Recall that the last time around, the Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit’s similar ruling; Justice Kennedy’s decision said that the court of appeals had …

There was a recent news story in Madison, Wisconsin, on its mayoral candidates forum, and the story mentioned a discussion there of “minority requirements for contractors,” and whether this is something that Madison should have.  In my published response, I said the answer is no, regardless of the outcome of the “disparity study” that is under way (and also mentioned in the news story).  It’s good to make sure 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 …

The Center for Equal Opportunity had a busy first month in 2015, so I thought I would bring you up to date on just a few of our activities in January. First, we’ve been very involved in the “disparate impact” case that was argued before the Supreme Court last month.  In addition to working with the State of Texas (the party in the case), and joining and help write an amicus brief, I’ve also written about the case a number of times, including here and here and here.  I also wrote more broadly about disparate impact in my Martin Luther …

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, a case in which the Center for Equal Opportunity has been heavily involved. The question presented in this case is: “Are disparate-impact claims cognizable under the Fair Housing Act?” Under a disparate-impact claim, discriminatory motive is irrelevant: It need not be alleged nor proved, and it doesn’t even matter if the defendant proves that there was no discriminatory motive. If a policy or procedure results in a disproportion of some sort — not only on the basis of race, …

Some recent news items like this one report that liberal civil-rights groups are hoping to use Rep. Steve Scalise’s troubles to their advantage.  Their hope is that he can pressured to prove that he’s really not a racist by, among other things, promising to support the Left’s proposed legislation to resurrect Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act by overturning the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Rep. Scalise should tell the groups that he’s not interested, and in no uncertain terms.  No new legislation is needed. The Supreme Court struck down only one provision in the Voting …

On November 25, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Yascha Mounk, who teaches expository writing at Harvard, about his school’s policy of discriminating against Asian Americans in admissions and, in particular, the policy’s historical parallels with Harvard’s anti-Jewish quotas of yesteryear.  All good stuff, and it’s good that the Times ran it. The only off-note is two or three paragraphs that defend Harvard’s policy of giving racial preferences to African Americans and Latinos in order to achieve a “critical mass” of them.  That kind of discrimination is okay, says Mr. Mounk, but giving whites a preference over Asian Americans …