Are our civil rights in jeopardy?
What has our country come to? What has it come to when a city decides not to promote a firefighter because of the color of their skin? What could make this situation worse? I’m going to say that the fact that this kind of discrimination has spread to white and Hispanic population, and no longer simply covers African Americans.
The Supreme Court ruled today that the city of New Haven, Connecticut wrongfully decided not to promote a single firefighter, because there were no minority firefighters that passed a certain test for promotions. The made this decision, despite the fact that a white, and dyslexic, firefighter spent many long weeks studying to no end. He ended up scoring the highest out of all the firefighters that took the test, and yet, no one received a promotion.
Since this city lies in New England, I guess their actions shouldn’t surprise me. Too often, more liberal portions of the United States worry about being politically correct and civil rights lawsuits when it comes to making a decision between a minority and a white person. The district court of appeals up there said that the city has the right to defend themselves against a possible lawsuit filed by an African American, had the city decided to promote a white firefighter instead of a black firefighter.
Where this situation gets even more interesting is here: Sonya Sotomayor was one of the judges that decided to uphold the decision of the lower court. Those judges, issued a single paragraph statement, upholding that decision.
Anyways, the Supreme Court decided that those lower courts were wrong. The decision was made with in a 5-4 split in favor of the white firefighter, with justic Kennedy casting the swing vote. Obviously, the 4 decenting votes were cast by the justices that are considered liberal…
I applaud the Supreme Court in this decision. EVERYONE in the United States deserves equality, no matter their skin color. I think it is ridiculous that a city in America decided to stomp on the civil rights of humans in order to defend themselves. These governments were created by the people to SERVE the people, not to defend themselves (these governments) from the people.
Here is what justice Anthony Kennedy said,
“Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”
Democrats have begun their attack on the decision. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, calls the decision “cramped” and wrong.
Here are the facts. There were 77 firefighters that were given the test. Of those, 41 were white, 9 were black, and 6 were Hispanic. Of the 77 that took the test, 17 whites and 2 Hispanics could expect a promotion, based on test results. The disparities in the results, relative to race, can simply be looked at this way: looking at the numbers, it is obvious that it is more likely that a white person is going to come out on top than a black or Hispanic person purely because there were many more white firefighters that took the test.
People, it is time for EVERYONE to realize that we should be basing our decisions on true merit and character, and not the color of someone’s skin. Accusing a person, or organization, of racial discrimination without a legitimate reason is something that should be frowned upon. People should not live in fear of being persecuted because of suspected racial discrimination. I ask everyone to take responsibility for their actions and to live freely. We do not need civil rights legislation to tell us that we should live equally.
Credit to the Associated Press for quotes and factual information: White firefighters win Supreme Court appeal LINK
My climate bill alternative
This is kinda beating a dead horse, but I still feel like posting an entry about an alternative that I think would be more effective than the current bill going through Congress.
First of all, we all agree that the environment is an important part of this earth. I mean, obviously, we wouldn’t exist without it. Second, we all also agree that the environment needs to be protected, and that we should be doing something to lessen our impact on the Earth. Sadly, I think that the people that represent our country in the District of Columbia have ignored what we do agree on have begun focusing on what we do not agree on, and turning the discussion into a political nightmare.
To start off with, during these economic times, the last thing that we should do is enact legislation that places and undue, or overwhelming, burden on the American citizens. This recent bill, unfortunately, has failed to avoid this. The thing is, reducing our pollution footprint on the planet does not require massive amounts of money.
I am one of those people that believes that there are many other ways to reimburse, ways that do not require the use of money. Things like education, demonstrations, festivals, and advertisement are all ways that the federal government can go about reducing emissions. Of course, these things do cost money, but they do not have as large of a financial impact on each person that pays for energy.
For those of you who are reading, that live in the United States, if you’ll think with me for a moment. What are some reasons that that you don’t do more to save energy or reduce how much pollution your actions cause? Here is a list of five that I’ve come up with:
1) It’s tedious, I’m a lazy person…
2) I have a low sense of self-efficacy
3) There is low accessibility to “green solutions” in The South
4) I become embarrassed if I’m the only person doing something in public
5) I don’t have the time (kinda goes with #1, but it’s a bit different)
So, now that I’ve listed these, I’m gonna go through them and think about the reality of each of them.
1) It can be quite laborious. So, what are some things that I do, or could do, that do not require as much effort? Well, some obvious ones are turning out lights, keeping the thermostat a few degrees higher, paying attention to how much my car sits in idle, it isn’t absolutely necessary to eat out as much as I do. Those are the obvious things, and when I actually think about them, they really don’t seem all that hard or difficult to do.
2) Ok, sometimes I believe that I, as one single person, cannot have too much of an effect on the environment as a whole. Which, isn’t completely false, but if you think about it, you really can make a difference. Picking up a plastic bottle along the road is one less bottle floating down the river. Using a grocery bag is one fewer trash bag I have to use. Or, doing what I’m doing now can make people think about what they could be doing to make a difference.
3) I’m sure a lot of people know what this one means. Many believe that there isn’t much accessibility to these solutions. In reality there are a lot of things that you have access to. Lots of people think that you have to have access to a private company that does these things, and you really don’t. Just because you’re not directly reducing how much CO2 you pump into the air, doesn’t mean your actions don’t eventually have that effect. Simply picking up trash can have a drastic effect.
4) This has always been a big one for me. Sadly, there’s really no way around it. Lately though, I’ve gotten past it more than I have in the past.
5) Ok, this is probably the most common complaint, and the fact is, you don’t have always have to take time out of your schedule. Simply pick up a discarded plastic bottle, newspaper, or recycle batteries instead of putting them in the trash. What I do is make an effort to at least pick up a discarded plastic bottle whenever I’m on my way home from class during the school years. We may not all have time to do physical work, but we all have time to think about ways we can make it easier on ourselves to do these things.
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Now, back to the political side of this. This recent “Climate Bill” re-enforces the view that many share, that our politicians have lost touch with their constituents.
Our politicians legislate from Washington, instead of representing us in Washington. Now, you’re probably wondering what the difference is. This is the difference: legislating from DC means that they sit in Washington and just vote; they don’t seem to think about what the people want, they simply vote and pass laws. If you’re still confused, a great example is an insurance company. Think of the money you pay towards insurance as taxes and you’ve got a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. The people that read through your claims look at words and type, not at the people behind those words and type.
Anyways, here’s my alternative, finally. I’ve been ranting…
Encourage more education. Let people know what they can do. A big problem in this country is that people are oblivious to the world that they believe revolves around them. If people continue to be so blind and ignorant to the consequences of their actions, what do our politicians expect to happen?
Demonstrate, advertise demonstrations. Show people doing the things that we need to start doing. More people learn by example than learn by reading some 1300 page bill that was passed over 700 miles away.
Festivals, these can actually have a huge effect. In my area, the Decatur area, there are quite a few festivals and celebrations that involve the environment, and they do a GREAT job in showing people how to take care of their environment. Sadly, these festivals often go unnoticed. They’re well planned, and usually fun and entertaining, but not many people know about them. If you bring people together, it solves a lot of problems. People want to know that they’re not alone in this. If people feel along in doing it, they’re gonna get frustrated with it, and give up. These festivals also show how it can be fun to take care of the world, and also how you can enjoy it and keep it clean at the same time.
Of course, we can’t forget about the legislation that has already been signed into law. Good gosh, one thing at a time! Please! It should be made a priority to enforce and improve the laws that we have already passed. Those laws and initiatives should get improved funding before we start throwing money at some new bill.
That’s all I have to say, I can’t think of anymore really, and I apologize for the length. I hope no one got bored…
3uvwdse76y
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