Let's see, we have Black Panthers being permitted to stand outside a polling place in military garb and it's no big deal, and more recently a black movie director putting on Twitter the address of George Zimmerman, black panthers can put a bounty on, and making al manner of death threats against, George Zimmerman, a gang of blacks beating up a innocent white guy sitting on his porch, putting him the hospital, and where is Eric Holder. Where else but down in Jacksonville, Florida where he's now suing the city claiming its use of written tests to determine promotions in the city's fire department is too tough for blacks to pass. Gotta make it easier! The lawsuit followed what is said to be a more than two-year investigation examining Jacksonville's record of promoting African-Americans for the ranks of lieutenant, captain, district chief and engineer dating back to 2004. So somehow we're supposed to believe this has been going on for 8 years?
Evidently Justice Department involvement became necessary after a separate lawsuit was filed last year by two dozen Jacksonville firefighters challenging the city's promotional process. In other words, they saw an opportunity here to use accusations of racism as a way to worm out a promotion when they obviously don't deserve it. Ya know, I'd love to be in the position of where it matters not if your actually qualified for a job only that you're entitled to it because of your race. In the lawsuit, the firefighters alleged union officials unfairly shared exam questions with white workers but not with black workers ahead of the test. "This complaint should send a clear message to all public employers that employment practices that have the effect of excluding qualified candidates on account of race will not be tolerated," Thomas Perez, a U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement.
A spokesman for the Jacksonville mayor's office declined to comment. By the way, just in case you may not be aware, Jacksonville now has a black mayor. The supposed complaint, or that which the Justice Department alleges as being the rationale for the lawsuit, is that the exams are "not job related for the positions in question." The complaint said use of the tests "has resulted in a disparate impact upon black candidates" because African-Americans pass the examinations at significantly lower rates than white candidates. And we're just supposed to assume that the reason can be said to be discrimination? The Justice Department said black employees who do pass the tests rarely are promoted since their scores are generally lower than white workers. "At best, these tests measure only a slice of what is necessary to be a supervisor, but they stand in the way of qualified African-Americans advancing in the fire department," the statement said.
Look, I don't know about anybody else, but do we really want to make the test so damn easy to pass that when your house is on fire we have to wonder if the guys showing up actually know how to put it out? Has anyone ever stopped to consider that maybe blacks don't bother to study for the test? I mean if they know all they have to do is to scream racism in order to achieve the same result, where's the incentive to study. Why not just take the test and when you do lousy just accuse those who created it of being racist, and writing the test in such a way as to make it "difficult" for your typical black firefighter to pass. Isn't this all just a little silly? And what if it was the other way around, with blacks doing better on the tests that whites? Would there be the same level on concern? Would our stellar Justice Department still be suing the city? I very much doubt it. Because, after all, in the eyes of those presently in charge, that would be as it should be.
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