Racial Quotas

In an historic decision, the Supreme Court ruled that race may not be used to decide which public-school kids attend. Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race".

This decision will greatly effect an 11 year old girl Nikita Rau in New York who was recently denied admission to the Mark Twain School in Brooklyn. That school, as a result of a 1974 court order must have a student body which is 60 percent white and 40 percent minority. This really shouldn't apply since blacks and Latinos now make up two-thirds of the city's enrollment.

The school also requires different grades for whites and minorities. For two of the specialized programs, white kids must score higher on exams than minorities as part of a quota system, for nine programs, minorities must score higher. This does not seem fair.

Back in 1954 when the court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education things were very different. Such a ruling was necessary. Now with the opportunities afforded to everyone and the various laws that have been passed, I believe quotas are wrong and unfair.

If race were not entered on applications, students could be judged on their abilities. After all, aren't we all really just one race - the human race.