More Whites Filing Discrimination Suits
It may surprise some people to know that the U.S. Constitution and subsequent civil rights legislation protect every individual, regardless of race or sex. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, etc., applies to all citizens.
Kansas.com reports that discrimination suits filed by whites are on the rise:
“From 1998 to 2008, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recorded a 45 percent rise in race-based discrimination claims filed by whites. (The agency shuns the term “reverse discrimination.”) Today, complaints from whites of racism make up 10.4 percent of all complaints to the agency, up from 8.5 percent in 1998.”
Ricci v. DeStefano didn’t start the fire, but the ruling favorable to white and Hispanic firefighters whose rights were violated sends a message to government entities that believe the law protects only racial minorities.
One side says such incidents don’t mean the “playing field” is leveled and that conservatives “all of a sudden” are front and center fighting discrimination. The obvious implications are that the government is free to discriminate against whites until all disparities disappear, and conservatives, who understand the true meaning of equal justice, don’t care about discrimination against blacks.
The two camps approach the issue of racial discrimination in different ways. While conservatives believe skin color should be left out of the equation, liberals believe blacks and other minorities should receive special treatment. Justifications for this special treatment vary—from rectifying past discrimination to increasing proportional representation.
To some degree, the Ricci case likely will embolden more whites to seek protection of the law from what they perceive as racial discrimination.
