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The Misunderstanding Of Civil Rights At The Gretna Breeze

Gretna, Nebraska, a city of 2355 souls (in 2000) in Sarpy County, Nebraska, is the fastest growing city in Nebraska. Unfortunately, this growth in size does not seem to have been accompanied by a comparable growth in understanding civil rights at the Gretna Breeze.

Its editorial, ?Negative Action,? begrudgingly acknowledges that ?Equal opportunity for everyone regardless of race or gender sounds like the best way to approach hiring and firing employees and admitting students to college.? But ?sounds like,? to the Breezy editors, does not mean ?is,? and the passage of the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative, by a Michigan-sized majority, leaves them with nothing but a forlorn sounding ?hope? that things won?t get much worse.

Let?s just hope it [equal opportunity for everyone regardless of race or gender] works.

Here?s hoping women of childbearing age are still able to find work.

Here?s hoping black teenagers from low-income families can scrape together the money for college when they don?t get that sorely needed scholarship money which was once set aside specifically for them.

Here?s hoping someone of Middle Eastern descent is able to find a job, a school, a place to live ... anything.

Here?s hoping the Breezy editors will explain in a future editorial why they think prohibiting their state government from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender ? requiring, that is, ?equal opportunity for everyone regardless of race or gender? ? could possibly have a negative effect on ?women of childbearing age? looking for work or ?someone of Middle Eastern descent? trying to find ?... anything.? Do they really believe that before NCRI passed the state did, or should, grant preferential treatment to women of childbearing age looking for a job, or to people of Middle Eastern descent looking for ... anything?

It is true that NCRI will, or at least should, prevent the state from restricting scholarship money to teenagers of one race, but apparently a substantial majority of Nebraskans (58% of those voting), unlike the Breezy editors, see treating citizens without regard to their race as a Good Thing.

Full post as published by Discriminations on November 19, 2008 (boomark / email).