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August 03, 2005

First Thing We Do is Eliminate Scholarships for Non-Whites

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a private charitable school could not discriminate in admissions, even though they receive no federal money.  A bit late to strike down all the old Jim Crow institutions, but just in time to eliminate a program benefitting the native Hawaiian descendants of American colonialism.

In many ways, the decision is a breathtaking use of a Reconstruction statute as a sword against discriminatiton, but my question is why the courts chose to pick a scholarship for native Hawaiians to establish this precedent?  Why not start by challenging "legacy" admission rules at elite universities and prep schools, rules which inherently discriminate against non-white students whose parents almost never had a chance for admission?  Or challenges to the many scholarships awarded to students of various white ethnic backgrounds?

It is a convenient legal fact that affirmative action for whites went unchallenged in the courts for many centuries in our country, yet while school desegregation to benefit black students was muddled and weak at best, the courts now seem to be almost manic in eliminating any form of benefit for those groups who suffered discrimination in our history.

I wonder if all the Irish Heritage and Sons of Italy scholarships know that they were put out of business yesterday?

Posted by Nathan at August 3, 2005 01:51 AM