This story seems like a "Well, duh!" moment to me, but I know there are others who simply don't see things this way.
Justice Thomas Says Constitution Forbids Racial Preference
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.
Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action "has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking."
A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, "Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we're going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes...
"My suggestion would be to stop the buzz words and to focus more on the practical effect of what we're doing," he said Tuesday.
"I can tell you when you have fudge words, it leaves a lot of room for mischief," he said. "People have a tendency to read their personal opinions into fudge words. You want, when it comes to the issue of race, absolute words."
It seems to me that focusing on actual, documented discrimination and using our race-neutral laws to eradicate that is a constitutional approach. Keep in mind that affirmative action was put into place at a time when businesses argued they "couldn't find" any qualified minorities to fill positions. 40-odd years later, that argument simply doesn't work. Even in areas where there are fewer minorities, there are still plenty of ways to find and encourage them in a given field. Arguing that the Constitution must allow racial preferences turns its language on its ear.
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