Discriminations

According to an article in the Detroit News today [HatTip to Jennifer Gratz],

A federal civil jury awarded a $254,000 verdict to an Hispanic lieutenant with the Inkster police Wednesday, ruling the department discriminated against him because he was not black.
....
[Lt. Thomas] Diaz, who was Inkster police command officer of the year in 2002, alleged that the city “promulgated and continued a policy of discriminating in employment against non-African-Americans.”

The successful plaintiff’s attorney, James Felt,

has successfully litigated similar reverse discrimination lawsuits against the Michigan State Police and others, said Inkster's policy was unwritten but well-known.

It’s the type of policy Proposal 2, which voters approved in November outlawing public sector affirmative action, was intended to prevent, he said.

Indeed it was. Increasingly, storm clouds of ethnic conflict are covering up large parts of the rainbow of the “Rainbow Coalition.”

One interesting (at least to me) additional point:

The city denied in court pleadings that it favored blacks in promotions.

Most of you know that I don’t believe there is such a thing as “reverse discrimination,” and so never use that term, but I will make an exception in the name of brevity and use it here: I wonder how many defendants in “reverse discrimination” suits like this one deny that they did anything to favor minorities. Leaving aside the defendants who really weren’t favoring minorities (I’m sure there must be some), I wonder if the rest thought there was something wrong about what they were doing, or only that it was illegal.