WP, Robinson: "This court would have been happy for me to go to the 'black' high school..."

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Standing in the Schoolhouse Door
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 29, 2007; Page A21

....I start from the premise that racial integration in the schools is a good thing. I think the educational process benefits from diversity, and all students are better served in an integrated classroom. I also believe that in a nation where minorities will someday form the majority, integration is an important civic lesson our schools ought to be teaching. Given those beliefs, it seems to me that allowing local officials in Louisville and Seattle to continue with limited programs to ensure integration in the schools should be a no-brainer.

But our revanchist Supreme Court obviously doesn't share my belief in diversity. Thomas, the court's only black member, wrote a concurring opinion in which he had the gall to cite Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 decision that integrated the nation's schools, as precedent for yesterday's ruling -- which will boldly advance the cause of resegregation.

Let's not grasp at straws here. While Kennedy kept the court from definitively shutting the door on school integration, it's clear what direction we're headed. This court would have been perfectly happy for me to go to the "black" high school in my hometown of Orangeburg, S.C., instead of following a handful of pioneers who integrated the "white" school. This court has the whole concept of affirmative action in its sights. Sorry about the whole slavery thing, and the whole Jim Crow thing, and the whole "separate but equal" thing, and, oh yes, the whole racism thing. That was then, and this is now

If we as a society -- black, white, brown, yellow, red -- are going to work toward fairness, inclusion, equality and, yes, integration, we're going to have to do it by working around those dour men in black robes on Capitol Hill. They have decided to stand in the schoolhouse door.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/28/AR2007062801789.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. This so sucks

Damn Supreme Court.

[bdamomma]

2. * has his goons in the SC.

sickening. just stripping the hell out of everything.

[kenny blankenship]

5. Indeed: goons on the SC put him in power 6 and a half years ago.

That being the case, there could be no doubts about what Bush would do with the Court. They mired themselves in illegitimate, antidemocratic government on Dec. 12, 2000, and Bush has been hugging them to his Fascist bosom, making sure that the Court can never come back.

[ellisonz]

3. "They have decided to stand in the schoolhouse door."

[fortyfeetunder]

4. What is SCOTUS long term goal -- 21st Century Jim Crow?

It's starting to feel like Jim Crow is making a comeback. Schools, employment is probably next, and we all know what's been happening when it comes to elections.

[Nikki Stone1]

6. It seems to be a complete unraveling of the last 50-60 years

And, if you count the price-fixing ruling, the last 100.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

7. Yeah. It's deconstructing all the cultural/social advances.

I've been pretty bummed the last few days. ;(

[Nikki Stone1]

8. It's amazing how easy it is to hijack legal institutions

....

[fortyfeetunder]

9. Back to the past -- we don't want that again...

My recollection from history is, once all these legal institutions are dismantled, like affirmative action, voting rights, civil rights, equal education, then we are essentially back to the pre-civil rights era. And sad to say, it's not taking much to get there.

I don't want a return to this. I recall many people of all races and creeds sacrificing their lives so we all can live with dignity and with equal rights. I am assuming most DU'ers don't want a return to this (right?)

I fear the anger this time will be more physical than it was in the 50's-60's. But we have to do something to keep this clock from being turned back....or we will all suffer, together...