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Article: Supreme Court: making it clear. (reverse discrimination cases) (American Survey)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 28, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Supreme Court Making it clear
AFTER 12 years of confusion, dating back to its historic but ambiguous Bakke decision of 1977, the Supreme Court held clearly this week that "reverse discrimination" by the government against whites must meet the same tough constitutional standard as discrimination against blacks. The court overturned a law in Richmond, Virginia, reserving 30% of city construction money for minority-owned companies.
Minority contracting quotas are among the most dubious forms of "affirmative action": almost by definition, the beneficiaries tend to be the least disadvantaged members of their race. These programmes have also proved to be an ...