I’ve had occasion to quote, or refer to, Andrew Kull’s masterful book, THE COLORBLIND CONSTITUTION (Harvard, 1992) on more than one occasion. It is by far the best book on that subject, and so I suppose it makes sense for one of the best articles I’ve seen to be a review of Kull, which I just found sort of by accident.
It’s by Alex Kozinski, a judge on the Ninth Circuit, in The New Republic in 1993, and it will repay close, careful, and even frequent reading.
I’m not going to say anything about it now, though I may later. So if you have any comments about it, by all means share them.
“We live in a society only a generation or so removed from apartheid; racism is still a fact of life for many Americans.”
“The answer to this question depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist.”
Ultimately, I think that this reviewer’s latter commentary ultimately reflects the overall tenets of the U.S. Constitution. Our system of government is indeed inherently pessimistic – different branches of government, checks and balances, 2/3, 3/4 rules, etc. Consequently, affirmative action policies are equally pessimistic – deep down, history and experience makes for a skeptical, cautious minority.
“We live in a society only a generation or so removed from apartheid; racism is still a fact of life for many Americans.”
“The answer to this question depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist.”
Ultimately, I think that this reviewer’s latter commentary ultimately reflects the overall tenets of the U.S. Constitution. Our system of government is indeed inherently pessimistic – different branches of government, checks and balances, 2/3, 3/4 rules, etc. Consequently, affirmative action policies are equally pessimistic – deep down, history and experience makes for a skeptical, cautious minority.
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