Another Civil Rights Hero

In addition to saluting Gail Heriot here yesterday, we shouldn’t let today get by without taking note of another civil rights hero of our time, Edward Blum.  Edward is profiled today in the New York Times.  Edward is chiefly responsible for bringing the two successful Supreme Court challenges to the Voting Rights Act last year, and he also helped bring up the Fisher case that curtailed race-conscious admissions in Texas by requiring lower courts to apply strict scrutiny rather than deferring meekly to the fog of justifications college admissions departments serve up.  Now Edward is following up to extend the reach of the Fisher case.

In the usual less than subtle ways of Times journalists, Adam Liptak’s story attempts to deprecate Edward and his cause with indirect hints that he’s not making any progress in finding plaintiffs, and that universities are struggling oh-so-sincerely to be good citizens when it comes to complying with the admittedly confusing state of non-discrimination doctrines the Supreme Court has left us.  This is one of those stories you need to rub a little lemon juice on, and recognize that universities are using every subterfuge possible to maintain their conscious preference regimes, which increasingly appear biased against Asians.  Hence the truth is just the opposite of what Liptak’s story conveys.

Blum 2 copyEdward’s organization is the Project on Fair Representation, and he could use your financial support if you’re so inclined.  Plus, he’s a loyal Power Line reader, and we need to stick together!

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