In a nation the place the problem of race by no means appears to be totally settled, we’re once more confronted with the query of what to do about affirmative motion. America is devoted to the proposition that every of us is equal at delivery and constitutionally entitled to be handled equally by our authorities. We enshrined that proper because the 14th Modification. However the spirit of equity generally compels us to take a detour from our foundational ideas within the identify of changing into a extra excellent union.
America has come a great distance since 1939, after I was born in Jim Crow Louisiana. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed Government Order 10925, which required federal contractors to take “affirmative motion” to make sure that staff wouldn’t be discriminated in opposition to due to race, creed, colour or nationwide origin. It wasn’t meant to discriminate in opposition to previously favored teams. “Race has no place in American life or legislation,” JFK stated.
