On the same day the American bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list, a plurality of the Supreme Court replaced the once-threatened eagle with minority children. Their decision in two school cases endangers the well-being of countless children of color nationwide.
In the 50th anniversary year of the Little Rock school integration crisis, the Court, by a 5-4 vote, issued a judicial slap in the face to those who, as youngsters, braved howling mobs in Arkansas to make democracy work.
Knocking down voluntary plans to promote diversity in their classrooms, a Court plurality dreamingly suggested non-racial plans to cure the schools' racial imbalances. Sadly for the two cities' children -- and for other believers in fairness -- there are no non-racial remedies for racial discrimination. In order to get beyond race, you've got to go to race. To suggest racial neutrality as a remedy is sophistry of the highest sort...
...Segregated neighborhoods make segregated schools inevitable. This isolation is especially pronounced for poor black children.
According to the National Research Council, "Compared with poor whites, poor blacks are more likely to live in neighborhoods where a high proportion of the residents are poor."
This from the Courier-Journal.
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