The US is experiencing better race relations – and a spate of reverse - discrimination lawsuits
BARACK OBAMA’S election as president has brought a dramatic improvement in Americans’ perceptions of race relations in their country. Two out of three now say race relations are generally good, and the percentage of blacks who say so has doubled since last July, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published last week.
The upbeat mood about race coincides, however, with a surge of “reverse discrimination” lawsuits on behalf of whites who claim to have been disadvantaged by affirmative action.
Last month, Benedict College, a historically black university in South Carolina, agreed to pay $55,000 each to three white lecturers who said they were forced from or denied jobs because of their race.
Two white-owned car services in Florida have sued their local authority for trying to steer contracts to minority-owned businesses.
And in the most high-profile reverse discrimination lawsuit in years, the US supreme court last week heard arguments in the case of Ricci v DeStefano, taken by a group of white firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut.
Frank Ricci was one of 118 firefighters who took exams in 2003 for promotion to the ranks of lieutenant and captain. Ricci, who is dyslexic, worked hard to prepare for the exam, spending $1,000 to have the written test questions transferred to audio.
His effort paid off, emerging among the top 10 out of 77 sitting the test for lieutenant, making him eligible for promotion. Unfortunately for Ricco, everyone in the top 10 was white – although almost half of those who took the exam were black or Latino.
The exam for captain told a similar story, with no black candidates making the grade, despite the fact that they made up one fifth of those who applied.
The New Haven Civil Service Board held five hearings on what to do about the test results before deciding not to promote anyone at all. Ricci and the others who had won top marks took legal action, claiming that the city had deliberate intent to discriminate against them.
The city argues that, if it had promoted the successful candidates, it could have faced a lawsuit on behalf of minority candidates under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The legislation requires employers to assess their selection processes to ensure that tests and other selection procedures do not have an adverse impact against those who have historically faced discrimination.
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” declared chief justice John Roberts in 2007.
Roberts was ruling in favour of Seattle parents who objected the use of race as a criterion for assigning children to local schools.
The chief justice’s approach to affirmative action would be more plausible but for the fact that minorities remain at an enormous disadvantage in the US.
It’s not just that African-Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed as whites and less likely to complete high school – to say nothing of third-level education. Even when blacks attain the same educational level as whites, they usually earn less and face a greater chance of being laid off.
In fact, African-Americans and Latinos now lag behind whites for higher-paying jobs at the largest rates in about a decade. Blacks who had a four-year bachelor’s degree earned $46,502 last year, or about 78 percent of the salary for comparably educated whites, according to census data published this week.
In a recession, minorities tend to be the last to be hired and the first to be fired, so “colour-blind” recruitment and promotion procedures can actually reinforce racial disparities.
Colour-blind seniority systems tend to protect white workers against job layoffs, because senior employees are usually white.
White students also benefit from colour-blind college admissions because of their earlier educational advantages.
Leaving fairness aside, cities like New Haven have an interest in promoting diversity in their fire services because it makes the community safer.
“We are the first responders in any emergency, not just firefighting, but medical emergencies and natural disasters. For us to relate to and be of trust in the community, when you are from that community, your commitment is stronger,” according to Addington Stewart, director of the south-central region of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters.
