By now, you have no doubt heard or read that the Supreme Court has decided that the city of New Haven, Conn. violated the law when it threw out the results of a promotion exam because not enough black firefighters passed it. The city, hoping to preempt a lawsuit by throwing out the results, but got one anyways.
And the Supreme Court made the right call.
Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his decision, “No individual should face workplace discrimination based on race,” and frankly, I have to agree. We live in a nation which was founded on the premise that all men are created equal. Many people have fought to truly implement that plan in this nation, and there’s still a ways to go. But this decision seems pretty clear to me.
First, there was the fact that this test was set up to be non-racially biased. Experts have agreed that there is nothing in the exam that racially biased it. The black applicants for promotion just didn’t make the cut this time. Why? Who knows. It wasn’t because they were black though, and that’s what is vital to remember. However, the white firefighters were denied promotion just because they were white. Racism is still racism.
So how does this effect Albany? Well, many of you may know that the City has been operating under a court order for years. Basically, when a position opens up that has been held by a white person, the next person in that spot must be black, but there is nothing that says the spot held by a black person must be filled by a white. In effect, when a spot opens up that had been filled by a white, then that spot is being denied to other whites simply by virtue of their race.
Now, I’m not 100% certain as to what will happen in regard to this court order, but it seems like the time is right for someone to challenge this order based on the SCOTUS decision. I believe that black and white people alike should have equal opportunity. In fact, I believe opportunity must be equal for our nation to truly prosper. But it’s also important to not force an equalization of results. Results must be earned based on merit and nothing else.
Should protections be in place in case of discrimination? I think so, since discrimination is an initiation of force, essentially, and I personally have an issue with that. But it shouldn’t be the first stop on why someone didn’t get a job or promotion unless there is clear evidence as is the case of the New Haven firefighters.
Let’s worry about our city employees being competent and not worry about their skin color. Lord knows, we need all the help we can get, so let’s not worry if they’re black, white, or purple, or whatever. I want the smartest, most talented people in these jobs. I could care less what their skin color is. I want them to be great at their jobs, and fair in their application of law.
Everything else is secondary.
