Posted on 03/19/2011 6:56:22 AM PDT by flowerplough
The U.S. Department of Justice ordered the Dayton, Ohio, Police Department to lower testing standards on its recruitment exam. Why? Because not enough blacks passed the test the first time around.
So the Dayton Civil Service Board made the required changes. Up until now, potential recruits needed to score 66 percent on the first part of the exam, and 72 percent on the second in order to move on to the next phase in the process. Under the new DOJ-ordered guidelines, 58 percent and 63 percent are now the benchmarks.
Based on the new, lowered standards, 258 more people “passed” the exam. Information has not been released regarding their demographics. But according to the Dayton Daily News, the city is now allowed to proceed.
A Dayton TV news website reports that Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward disagrees with the mandated adjustments: “The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed. If you lower the score for any group of people, you’re not getting the best qualified people for the job.”
(Excerpt) Read more at online.worldmag.com ...
This didn't get its genesis in the Justice Department. This was handed down as doctrine by the Supreme Court in 1971 in Griggs v Duke Power. It's called "disparate impact" and it was their interpretation of the Civil Righst Act of 1964.
They don't have a choice. This comes down from a 40 year old Supreme Court decision. It states that any policy, public or private, that has a "disparate impact" on minorities, whether intended to or not, can be held to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
I think you found one of the people who didn’t or can’t pass the test or is from another planet or is responding to a different thread somehow.
You’re right, not enough time in the world to explain it.
If one thinks about this objectively, following trends and patterns, this dumbing down of America has long been in action....look at how liberalism has dumb-downed our K12 education system, how they have been long attempting to dumb down our university/college education system, etc. The dumbing down of police recruitment exams then comes as no surprise. =.=
Yes I don’t understand why the police force just does not try to recruit qualified minorities. You know they are out there. Better 1 or 2 black or latino recruits who are qualified than 12 who are not. Its just affirmative action which is not a very good way to do things.
Serious question. Do the recruits not have to go through an Academy? Is the Academy also required to lower their standards for passing? Or can these “dummies” be rooted out at that point?
I know that for my current position, I must take a monthly test (closed book) and pass by 90%. If I cannot maintain that, I must go through recertification. If I can’t recertify, I’m gone.
Anyway, they SAY they want an even playing field, but that’s a bald-faced lie. They want everything handed to them on a silver platter and they cry to the courts when they can’t get their way. We suffer in every way imaginable.
Jimmy “the Greek”! Izat you?!
Agreed. This is occurring across all employment disciplines of the country. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find “qualified” applicants. The employer is left with little choice but to compromise on the hiring standards.
I think I see your point, or at least the general direction you’re pointing. I enjoy observing the reactions here, and the way most of us try to avoid what some might try to construe as racism. This subject’s pretty rough, what with the author straightout calling a pointy-tipped dirt shovel a pointy-tipped dirt shovel: “ ...not enough blacks passed the test the first time around.”
In my other current post, on blacks and government-employee unions, the best two comments case as, “In other words, the author is claiming that since the 1950’s or 1960’s, black workers have unfairly taken a larger share of public union jobs than their representation in the overall population would suggest is proper. That’s clear evidence of racial discrimination at the hands of public unions. Therefore, in a financial crisis more severe than any since the Depression, isn’t it only fair that black workers take on a higher proportion of the burden of correcting the problem? See, isn’t phony racial grievance muckraking fun?” and “ This is, of course, the fact that noone wants to say. Gvt employment is a form of gentle welfare for a large chunk of the black and hispanic community. It has created a strong black middle-class that is still, sadly, completely dependent on the gvt.”
What constitutional authority enables the DOJ do this?
For decades, racism was contrued, even in legal precedence and statutes, as white against black (and I do mean blacks, not Asians, not latinos, etc.). Only recently, last decade or so have there been cases that crack back on this clearly incorrect notion. Racism applies on both directions and to all colors such as white.
Racism is generally very difficult to prove, unless you have an employer, supervisor caught on tape saying as much. So we use other metrics, in this particular case—hiring numbers and standards, and as applied against the local demographics. The courts decided long ago to right this disparity, and down the slippery slope we go.
Unfortunately, because of the drive to correct past mistakes, it is still only one way. The term “racism” is and will be the trump card for a long time. It will win in the court of public opinion not only because of the soon-to-be dominant voting body (democrat) who exploits it for money and power, but also because of the opposing side’s lack of courage to face it straight on as now, the greatest crime against both sides. So in the fight to do what is right, the cry of racism wins over logic most of the time, since no one wants to be labeled as racist, right or wrong.
What gives me hope is that some black organizations are now in the debate to turn this around and dish out criticism where it is deserved, the black community itself. But I doubt I will see any meaningful result in my lifetime. It will get much worse, before it gets better.
I despise lowering standards to allow less qualified people of any color. It’s an ugly mix of a failing education system, failing family structure and values, moral decay, greed, laziness, etc. But if someone yells “racism”, the others fall away quickly and become so much background noise. Hence, your poster’s comment about the dominant union segment then taking the bulk of the hit in bad times will never fly, as right as it is for all. It is one way.
Exactly, Holder is demeaning them or like you say, they are to lazy to try. He calls them his people. Well, who’s the racist here? If they are his people, what the heck are we?
There are outreach programs to the black community. Perverse incentives keep these programs from working...
Yes - but it’s still a mistake to lower standards. It makes the blacks look like idiots and makes the white resentful. I suspect we can do better.
I’m afraid you’re right regarding vouchers. Tax credits are a better vehicle, but the right solution is separation of school and state.
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