The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday in a 5-4 ruling that said the city of New Haven, Connecticut was wrong to throw out test scores used to determine promotions in the New Haven Fire Department. The city thought the test must have been racially biased.
The exam consisted of two parts. The first part was a 100 multiple-choice question test that concentrated on technical knowledge. It was worth 60% of the total score. The second part was an oral exam that was worth 40%. It was conducted by a panel that evaluated how well the firefighters could assess a situation and direct others.
None of the African-American firefighters scored high enough in the written exam to be promoted. They did better in the oral exams.
I don’t really understand how exactly a 100 multiple-choice question test about firefighting technical knowledge can be racially biased. When taking a multiple-choice question test, you either know the correct answers or you don’t. Race has nothing to do with it.
Now if the African-American firefighters did well in the written exams, but poorly in the oral exams, and if the panel conducting the oral exams consisted of nothing but white people, then I might be willing to suspect a racial bias. That’s not the case here. It’s the complete opposite.
What I really hate about this case is the split decision. Nine supposedly well qualified, knowledgeable justices and somehow they could not all agree on the law on discrimination. Maybe they are the ones that need to take a test.
Lee B.
/ July 1, 2009I’m thinking about Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. And Gay Black Man Day. And Immigrant Celebration Month. And Women’s Appreciation Week. And Hispanic Appreciation Month. And so on… The American way has been to call out all of these groups in so many ways, perhaps it’s no surprise that even the judges don’t know what the hell to when white men cry foul.
It’s pretty fucked up, but if you’re white, male, and heterosexual, you had better just be quiet and don’t you even THINK about being proud of the way God made you.
Rick
/ July 1, 2009I just don’t think it’s any of the government’s business what my race is. It’s rude. I wouldn’t walk up to someone I barely know and ask them what race they are. Why do we allow our government to do it?
This case seemed strange to me in that everyone took the same 100 multiple-question test. If none of the black guys scored high enough to pass, maybe, just maybe, they didn’t study hard enough.
Lee B.
/ July 1, 2009I listened to some of the details about the case on NPR. The judges didn’t say the test was unfair- they said based on the results, there could be the APPEARANCE that the test was unfair to non-whites, and that was enough to put the municipality at risk of being sued, hence the ruling against the white firemen. Pretty messed up, indeed.