, September 1998)
I m often asked: Why do I bother writing about racial gaps in test scores? How can such an arcane subject be of any importance?
And yet test scores are at the heart of what may be the most important upcoming Supreme Court case, Ricci v. DeStefano. The issue: reverse discrimination against white firemen. Ricci provides a valuable window onto what affirmative action imposes upon American organizations. Typically, the contortions our institutions go through to avoid federal discrimination lawsuits are hidden from public view, but the
Ricci case exposes the bizarre, convoluted, and insane way the game is played.
There s been much talk recently about how the government can stimulate the economy, how it can make our institutions more efficient. The President has been coming up with expensive suggestions starting with his December call for the government to screw in more fashionable light bulbs.