In Ricce v. DeStefano, the supreme court has ruled that the city of New Haven discriminated against white firefighters (including one Hispanic) by throwing out a test given in order to obtain promotions which no black firefigher passed. The 5-4 majority concluded that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was violated. The court was split along familiar lines with Kennedy aligning with conservative justices and authoring the opinion. NYT story and link to case.
I was a college student when the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 and believe that it was necessary for the country at that time. However, it's an ironic -- if not a predictable course -- to see the Civil Rights Act successfully used by whites. Kurt Vonneguts's play, "Harrison Bergeron," just came into my thoughts. In it, equality was truly achieved by all Americans with the 211, 212 and 213 amendments. Talented dancers wear weights in the play to make them as clumsy as I am.
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