I know that I am late people. But this one took a little while to boil over in me so here we go.
Shortly after President Obama picked his Supreme Court nominee Judge Sotomayor- all of these charges of "reverse racism" popped up. Some in reference to her now infamous quote:
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”
And now more recently the New Haven 20 case (which she rendered a decision on) has been overturned - and supporters of this are doing so in the name of the war against "reverse discrimination or reverse racism".
Before I start - let me say 2 things.
#1 Props to Judge Sotomayor for her nomination - I have no doubt that she will do a good job. Stop tip-toeing around her nomination.
#2 - I actually agree with the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the ruling regarding the New Haven 20 and let those firefighters have their promotions. But that's where its stops.
There is NO SUCH THING AS REVERSE DISCRIMINATION. Discrimination is discrimination period. It can be projected and reciprocated but the term reverse discrimination is just plain stupid. But that is not what even makes me mad....What gets me going is the "super desperate for any kind of win right wing conservatives" who are twisting this term and the situations its referring to - and that is not right.
The New Haven 20 were not discriminated against. They were cheated out of promotion they deserved but not specifically because they were white (all of those that passed were not white either) - but rather because the city had problem with the outcome of the scores. There were petitioned to try and address it before these men took this test and the city didn't move to do anything about it until AFTER they took the test. Now again, that was wrong on the part of the city - there was standard test - the men passed it - they should get what they deserve. But an error on policy alone doesn't constitute racism or discrimination. At least not in my opinion.
Had the city of New Haven promoted ONLY minority officers and excluded white ones (when both groups were qualified). That would be racism. If they were qualified as a group but REPEATEDLY looked over for promotions in the face of consistent appointments of members of other minority groups - that would be discrimination as well. But this case, this case was not about racism it was about policy and whether or not a city government acted in accordance with the law. Period.
I find it very disturbing that these guys can cry the ultimate foul - when what I described in the paragraph above was (and still is in many fire departments) - how things were done in protection of "white" interests.
You see that's the difference. Discrimination is systematic. Its not random and it doesn't all of a sudden change course. Its bred and perpetuated through hateful thoughts and acts. That is not what happened here. That's not the spirit of Judge Sotomayor comments either. She was simply saying that a person who has had the experience of dealing with a more diverse upbringing for whatever reasons (or whatever race for that matter) - has a qualification that someone who hasn't does not. Did she phrase it poorly? Yes. So what..we'll call her the Joe Biden of the Supreme Court. But you can't get me to believe for one second that all of you college educated experts, pundits, activist, etc. - REALLY believe that. The very fact that you are smart enough to call it out as inappropriate shows me that you can interpret in either direction.
Let's be clear. The charges of "reverse racism" are comparable to "little boy who cried wolf". If you are screaming foul just because the for first time in your life you don't get something you want - doing it in the name of "reverse racism" - cheapens the term. Try marching up some city street or town road with a sign for a cause in the face of those who REALLY hate you. Then tell me about racism. Take up a cause that you KNOW will almost never see the light of day in any court in your lifetime (much less the supreme court) - and then tell me about discrimination.
This...this was nothing. This is a tad uncomfortable. Its cool- the system of white entitlement is in jeopardy - and its a new space for you. Kind of like being the boss of a company one day and then being the new guy at another company the next. Its all good. Fight for your spot and your respect. That's natural - that's survival of the fittest.
But PLEASE stop throwing around that word so freely. Too many people have sacrificed - even the ultimate sacrifice - for you to reduce it to the equivalent of a two-bit curse word or insult. Its not the same. It means so much more.
There is still so much work to do and this is a waste of time.
