Al's Opinions

Goodwin Liu writes today in The Los Angeles Times that "The 1954 [Supreme Court] opinion did not establish colorblindness as a legal principle. There is no ambiguity to be decided in the high court's current cases." He goes on to comment about a seeming change in the Court's view about the case "Brown vs. Board of Education," which declared that segregating school children on the basis of race was unconstitutional. The logic of Brown has been extended to outlawing segregation in all public accommodations, including transportation and dining in restaurants. Mr. Liu argues that in no case since Brown has the Court asserted that the federal Constitution is colorblind.

Segregation can be brought about as a result of zoning regulations and the failure of government to enforce equal opportunity housing laws as well as by deliberate positive action of government to legislate separate facilities for "white" and "non-white" races. Because such segregation came about by government decisions not to enforce fair housing laws, it is just as much a consequence of government policy as deliberately segregated schools had been.

At least that's an argument that works for me.

Some communities and some institutions have set out on their own to eliminate the effects of past segregation and discrimination. What is disturbing is that the present Supreme Court seems set to strike down these efforts on the ground that they deliberately take into account the color or the race of individuals in granting admission to prestigious universities. It isn't at all clear to me how you can go about trying to correct for effects of past segregation without looking at race and skin color. If the Court chooses to outlaw these voluntary attempts (e.g., at the University of Michigan Law School and in the Seattle Public Schools) it will be going against the spirit of the Brown decision. It will be condoning, if not actually encouraging, a return to segregation and discrimination.

Labels: Brown v. Board of Education, Goodwin Liu, School integration, Seattle Public Schools, U. of Michigan Law School