In an article on Slate (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/10/the_
supreme_court_s_next_attack_on_civil_rights_the_justices_will_likely.html) , Jamelle Bouie argues that the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has attacked civil rights. The headline is alarming, but the topic is prevalent and especially worth discussing right now. While I agree that the Court is assaulting civil rights, I think it is an unintentional assault.
Bouie goes through recent cases heard by the Supreme Court, most famously the striking down of parts of the Voting Rights Act, allowing for voter suppression to become more prevalent in many states. He also notes a 2007 case, in which Roberts and the Court voted in favor of a school using race as a "tiebreaker" in determining which students would be admitted. Both decisions are shocking in light of recent incendiary events, namely the murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, that both reveals racial prejudice and creates high tensions between races. The justices fail to see that their decisions are an unintentional assault on civil rights.
The racial issues the U.S. is facing now, Bouie argues, are parallel to the country's past racial problems. He also says that this attack, in contrast with previous ones (as seen in Plessy v. Ferguson), "has far more to do with partisan advantage than any racial animus." While I do think this is true, there does seem to be unintentional racial prejudice in the decisions. Going through each of these cases, it becomes clear that Roberts and other conservative members of the Supreme Court are striving for a "colorblind" view, without realizing that society has not, and should not, reach that point. In fact, trying to become a "colorblind" society is a disservice to the civil rights movement, as it goes against that the idea that there can be respect and equality between the races, while acknowledging and appreciating differences.
In moving forward with decisions that do not reflect where American society is, and trying to, as Roberts said, "'stop discrimination on the basis of race" by not "discriminating on the basis of race,'" the Court does indeed reveal an assault on civil rights and everything the movement stood for. The Supreme Court seems to be trying to be ambitious in its views on race in this country, which is admirable, but it is only hampering efforts to bring about true racial equality in the U.S. The conservative justices are unaware that from their efforts and decisions to promote racial equality comes more inequality.
A blog for the Civil Rights Movement class at Rhodes College, Fall 2014
I completely agree with your view of a "colorblind" society. Many people believe that our nation has reached a post-race stage, yet it is obvious that race places a huge role in how our society opperates. The colorblind perspective, especially in the case of the Supreme Court, is just a huge institution saying "we can see your race, but we are going to actively try to ignore it." This way of thinking, while seemingly a step forward in race relations, is actually a step back because it elimates the true cause of many societal issues we have. It is so unfortunate to see the Supreme Court succumb to this way of thinking, especially when it is perpetuates the oppression that African Americans have fought so hard to destroy.
ReplyDeleteThe court has long sought to guide the society. This "colorblind" mentality mentioned is the culmination of Justice Harlan's vision of the constitution. Harlan's often cited argument in Plessy v. Ferguson that "the constitution is colorblind" took decades to become the dominant view of America. It is interesting to see that what was once taken as an argument against segregation is now being used to of repeal civil rights legislation and oppose affirmative action. I would agree with you that the court has gotten too far ahead of society. The issues of race are still so pernicious in our society that it is perhaps too soon for the Supreme Court to attempt to usher in a "colorblind" society. This could be the vision for our society's future but for the moment it appears that the court is pretending that America is the racial utopia that it is not.
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