The End of Government-Sanctioned Racism

Good news from the Supreme Court, for a change:

Conservatives received a double dose of good news yesterday as the death of immigration "reform" was met with an immensely important ruling from the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the majority opinion for the Court, holding that school districts in Seattle and Louisville may not assign children to particular schools on the basis of race.

In a line for the ages Chief Justice Roberts explained: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." Equally moving was Justice Clarence Thomas, who wrote: "What was wrong in 1954 cannot be right today. The plans before us base school assignment decisions on students' race. Because 'our Constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens,' such race-based decisionmaking is unconstitutional."

However, the victory was dampened somewhat by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who joined in the result but refused to join the portion of the opinion declaring that achieving "racial balance" cannot be a "compelling interest" -- i.e., a justification for racial classification by the government. According to Justice Kennedy, race may still be used as a factor if all other alternatives are exhausted.

Nevertheless, the ruling pointed out the significance of the new chief justice and of Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement, Justice Samuel Alito. O'Connor was the deciding vote in Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 Supreme Court decision which upheld the notion that race could be one of many factors in determining admission to universities. Justice O'Connor memorably intoned in that case: "Twenty-five years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary." Apparently the clock used by Alito and Roberts is set differently.

I hope that Martin Luther King Jr. is smiling, because we're one big step closer to his dream than to the nightmare the race-baiters who claim to be his successors have foisted upon the nation.