Our View-Reverse bias case tells U.S. we are not beyond racism

More than a dozen firefighters are suing the city of New Haven, Conn. asserting racial discrimination. Just when we thought our racial problems were ushered out when President Obama was ushered in, another racial issue is heating up — pun intended.

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of 17 firefighters claiming reverse discrimination. The firefighters, 16 whites and one Hispanic, are upset about not receiving a promotion after passing a test that qualified them for one. One firefighter, Frank Ricci, came in sixth from a group of 77 applicants who participated in the exam, according to The New York Times. None of the 19 black applicants who took the exam succeeded in qualifying for the promotion.

The situation is further complicated because, instead of promoting those who passed the exam, the city threw out the test all together and hasn’t promoted anyone since. The rationale behind the city’s action was intended to avoid something like this.

The city considers this exam flawed because it was so racially specific as to who qualified and who did not. Historically, promotional exams are scrutinized, especially when the qualification process excludes minority applicants.

If no promotions took place, how can the firefighters claim racial discrimination? The suit claims they were not promoted because of the color of their skin. The basic argument is that if the plaintiffs were black and got the same test scores, they would have received what they deserved.

That claim is correct, however, if they were black and passed the test, signs would indicate the promotional tool likely was not flawed. There has historically been racial tension within the firefighting community so to avoid a real discrimination case, the city must consider the integrity of the test or any other tool used to determine promotions.

Public safety job promotions should be offered to the candidates with the highest qualifications. However, if the tool used to decide whether or not someone is qualified is skewed then who is to say which candidate is best qualified?

Reverse racial discrimination is out there and its unfortunate that discrimination of any type still exists. We shouldn’t, however, just claim racism when something goes wrong and we get frustrated. Not being promoted sucks, but wouldn’t you rather be promoted in a system that is unquestionably unflawed or racially unbiased?

It wasn’t too long ago another controversy surfaced after a black Los Angeles firefighter was fed dog food. Some say that situation was not racially charged and was only a hazing prank. The firefighter admitted his own personal biases after reporting the incident.

The point being, we are not there yet. We are not yet at the place where we can say, “Let’s stop paying attention to issues of skin color because it’s not an issue anymore.”

“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in regard to the 2006 Parents Concerned with Community Schools vs. Seattle School District case.

What does that mean exactly when the court just reversed the decision to no longer allow public universities to consider race in admissions? It implies we are done with racial issues, and the only way to stop the discrimination is to stop talking about it by ending this high-speed trend toward reverse discrimination lawsuits.

It seems the firefighters should be mad at the city for stopping the promotion process altogether. Perhaps this is an issue of the firefighters as a whole not getting what they deserve and need from the city.

But to lay claim you were discriminated against because you didn’t receive a promotion at the same time no one else did is nonsensical.