'Stop Being So Anglo'

[Valin]

WSJ/Best Of The Web:

San Francisco's Möbius strip of discrimination.

JAMES TARANTO

12/7/12

 

"Allegations of racism and other discrimination against San Francisco Housing Authority Executive Director Henry Alvarez are flying in lawsuits filed by his subordinates," the San Francisco Examiner reports. It's a man-bites-dog story inasmuch as Alvarez is black and his accusers are white--the reverse of the usual race-discrimination stereotype.

 

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Then there's this: "Larsen . . . claims Alvarez denied him a promotion based on his race, . . . admitting he would have granted the promotion 'if you had more melatonin in your skin,' according to court documents filed last month. The suit surmises that Alvarez actually was referring to 'melanin,' a hormone that determines skin pigment."

 

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If San Francisco prevails in the Coral Construction case, the logic of its argument would dictate that its history of discrimination against whites justifies future discrimination against minorities. When you sanction discrimination in order to remedy discrimination, you make of the law a Möbius strip.

 

(Snip)