racism

[ryoder]

I have to disagree that standardized tests are made to be easy for people like me and hard for other people.
I think that is a myth that people concoct to make themselves feel better about their socieoeconomic group when they do poorly on a test.

There was a case presided on by Obama's recent supreme court appointment in which reverse racism occurred at the judicial level. White firemen who scored well on a promotion test were denied the promotion because black firefighters didn't score well.

In 2003, the New Haven Fire Department decided to base promotions to the positions of captain and lieutenant primarily on a written exam. But the next year the city threw out the test results when all but one of the eligible candidates for promotion proved to be white. New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci, a high scorer on the test who is white, sued for reverse discrimination. His case is now before the Supreme Court in Ricci v. DeStefano. The case is getting extra play because 2nd Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's choice to take Justice David Souter's place on the Supreme Court, joined a brief opinion rejecting Ricci's appeal and then voted to deny rehearing of his case. Many commentators have championed Ricci's cause and disparaged Sotomayor for voting against him.

Why Sotomayor rejected the New Haven firefighters' claim. - By Richard Thompson Ford - Slate Magazine


“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor


NYT ‘Explains’ Sotomayor’s Racist Views » Sweetness & Light

When people say that my life was easier because I am a white male they cheapen the struggles that I have had in life.