Legal Commentary

: Discriminations

UVa Law?s Pledge Of Allegiance To Diversity

Karin Agness reports (on NRO?s Phi Beta Cons) that the Student Bar Association at the University of Virginia law school is encouraging all students to sign the ?2009 Diversity Pledge.?

She quotes the entire Pledge, which I encourage you to read, but I will limit my comments here to its first paragraph:

Every person has worth as an individual. Every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of class, color, disability, gender, nationality, race, or sexual orientation. Thoughts and acts of prejudice have no place in the UVA Law community.

?Prejudice? is a mental condition ? a pre-conceived opinion impervious to facts that don?t fit; an idea, value, attitude, belief ? and thus it?s not clear exactly what an ?act of prejudice? would be. No matter, because the budding lawyers would also ban any prejudicial thoughts. Yes, but what is a prejudicial thought?

Let us, generously I think, make some assumptions here (assumptions are necessary because the text isn?t clear): first, that although what the UVa lawyers-in-waiting actually say is that

Every person has worth as an individual. Every person is entitled to dignity and respect, regardless of class, color, disability, gender, nationality, race, or sexual orientation...

what they really mean is that every person has equal worth, that every person is entitled to equal dignity and respect, regardless of race, sex, etc. In other words, they seem to be saying no students should be the victim of prejudicial thoughts or acts because of their class, color, disability, gender, nationality, race, or sexual orientation (and, if I might make another assumption here, presumably not because of their religion, ethnicity, or national origin as well).

If my assumptions are correct, then this is an impressive pledge (although the attempt to banish even bad thoughts in Mr. Jefferson's University is overreaching a bit). But, alas, my assumptions can?t possibly be correct, because if these future lawyers really meant that everyone should be treated without regard to race, etc., they would have to oppose UVa?s heavy use of race preferences in admissions, and of course they do not.

A 2002 study by the Center for Equal Opportunity found that the UVa law school gives a

massive preference to black applicants over their Hispanic, white, and Asian counterparts. The relative odds of admission of a black over a white applicant for UVA, controlling for other factors, were almost 650 to 1 in 1998 and 730 to 1 in 1999 (the highest in any CEO study).

The practice of rewarding some and penalizing others because of their race or ethnicity is not consistent with the pledge to treat everyone with equal respect regardless of their race or ethnicity.

Full post as published by Discriminations on February 07, 2009 (boomark / email).