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Be thankful for two things: These women fought for your right to vote, and you don't have to dress like this.
Blog Archive
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2009
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April
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- Prep for the AP GoPo exam with CSPAN
- Whoa!
- Senator Specter's life
- Holy cow!
- Recession lingo
- Remember the engagement ring site from before?
- Heard of the swine flu?
- Notes from Sacto
- Laws and amendments flash cards
- Firefighter promotion case from class
- Limits on warrantless car searches
- Flash cards are go!
- As we're starting the first amendment...
- Engagement rings
- Anniversary of an historic concert
- Still no Senator in Minnesota
- Aaaaand...
- Big news today
- Afghanistan
- Just how wealthy are you?
- DC in Congress
- Remember former Senator Ted Stevens?
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April
(22)
3 comments:
First off, I'm not really sure how a test based on things a firefighter should know as a lieutenant could possibly be biased or purposely flawed to discriminate. If it truly was based on concepts a firefighter should know, I would assume that those who studied more and were more prepared for the test would have done better than others. It was interesting however that psychologists are even unaware of why certain tests produce racial disparities in certain job categories. I agreed with what Karen Torre, the lawyer for the white firefighters said, ""If you were to flip the scenario, and they're about to fill the vacancies until someone in [civil] service says, 'Wait a minute; we have a problem with having that many African-Americans,' I don't think anyone in this country would not find that offensive." I think that is true, and the fact that the majority of those who passed the test were white plays a large part in why the test was seen as flawed. I don't think that unless the test itself can actually be proven as flawed or somewhat biased in favor of or against a group should a new test be administered.
This was a very interesting article that made me think a lot about institutionalized racism. While the overt examples, like height requirements as mentioned in the article are easy to spot, I think the line is often blurred in this type of standardized tests. Because the test was produced by an independent agency outside of New Haven- I don't think it said where- I would have initially assumed the playing field would be level, especially considering the test was primarily concerned with job-related materials; I'm not sure what firefighters are tested on: the fastest way to put on your uniform perhaps? I do think the white firefighters have a legitimate case, and justified outrage at the concept of a retest, becuase although the test statistically appears racist, so does retesting the whole group when one racial demographic succeeds. I am curious to see how this will turn out.
I think it's true that most people are making such a big deal about this test becuase the majority of people up for promotions where white. It is true, that the test did not follow the most current standards but the test was based on material that everyone should have known. I think it will be interesting to see what the Supreme Court comes up with. It does seem that no matter how they rule it is going to be an extremely controversial decision. I think that these men deserve the promotions becuase they studied hard the test. The hard work that they put into ensuring they did well, should not go to waste.
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