New Haven 20

I have argued in other blogs responses that I am for a diverse workplace. And I am. I think when you call it affirmative action and set a certain mandatory number for each race you run into problems. So let’s look at the Supreme Court case involving the New Haven, Connecticut firefighters.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/29/supreme.court.discrimination/index.html?iref=24hours

The basics of what happened are as follows. Firefighters took an exam for potential promotion that resulted in one Hispanic, zero African-Americans and numerous whites passing. The city threw out the results because not enough minorities made the cut and no promotions were given. The 20 mostly white firefighters then sued claiming reverse discrimination.

So today the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the “New Haven 20” as they are now known. Both sides have good points and as you can imagine the blog-o-sphere is debating the decision heavily.

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/6/29/102420/525

And this case could change the way the government is forced to deal with race at the workplace.

Here is my first question. Was the test somehow flawed favoring whites over other races? If so, how? I have not seen the test but for this blog’s sake, I am going to assume that nearly all of the questions dealt with fighting fires and the skills that go in to doing this. I just want to know how that can be racially biased. If the answer is that emphasis should not be put on written test skills because that may favor a race, then I think that is wrong. Any firefighter looking to be promoted should be able to communicate effectively orally as well as in writing how to put out a fire.

I agree that other things should be taken into consideration as well like past performance, strength and fitness. But I want the best of the best trying to put out a fire at my house or save my child. I believe that most fire departments have tests that eliminate people who are out of shape and I am glad for that. Just like I would not want an obese, weak, elderly man attempting to put out the flames, I do not want someone who does not understand the science behind the fire trying to save my house either.

Take the NBA for example. I want to see the best athletes in the world when I watch an NBA game. I do not care to see a diversity that more closely represents that of our nation or home state. So the fact that about three quarters of the NBA is black is fine by me because I know that the coaches are typically going to put the best of the best out there. Could there ever be a lawsuit against the NBA? I hope not.

Now I consider saving lives as a firefighter more important than entertainment in the grand scheme of things. Having not seen this test, but assuming the questions related to fire, I think the Supreme Court made the correct decision on this individual case.