HAPPY 120^th BIRTHDAY, MR. AMBASSADOR:  Mike Mansfield was a Democrat back when people like my (only slightly misguided) late mother could proudly call themselves Democrats.  He is best known as the U.S. Senator from Montana (1953 -1977) and Majority Leader (1961-1977).

My story, however, has to do with his later service as ambassador to Japan—a position to which Carter had appointed him.  Since Mansfield was well-regarded in both parties, Reagan kept him on.  The story’s source was George Shultz, secretary of state for most of the Reagan years.

It seems Shultz had a large, impressive globe in his Department of State office.  When newly appointed ambassadors came for an interview or existing ambassadors came to Washington for their first meeting with him, he would tease them by saying, “You have to go over to the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country.”  They would spin the globe and put their finger on the country they had been assigned.  No mistakes were ever made.  You don’t have to be a genius to be an ambassador, but you can’t be a complete dullard.  Even if you’ve been assigned to Lower Slobbovia, you’d better be able to find it on the globe.

Mansfield was different.  When Shultz asked him to “identify your country,” Mansfield confidently spun the globe and put his hand on the United States.  “That’s my country,” he said.

And indeed it was.

Years later, Shultz said on C-Span’s Booknotes, “I’ve told that story, subsequently, to all the ambassadors going out. ‘Never forget you’re over there in that country, but your country is the United States.  You’re there to represent us.  Take care of our interests and never forget it, and you’re representing the best country in the world.’”

Mansfield served his country well—first in the military during WWI (he was only 14, but he lied about his age), then in both houses of Congress, and finally as ambassador.  He died in 2001 at the age of 98.

RICHARD SANDER:  “Law-School ‘Mismatch’ Is Worse Than We Thought:  With the Supreme Court Poised to Rule on Affirmative Action in Admissions, the Time to Spread the Word Is Now.”

HOW MANY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION POLICIES HAVE BEEN REVIVED BY A CHASTENED BIDEN ADMINISTRATION?:  “Biden may revive detention of migrant families caught crossing the border illegally.”  (My first-hand report on a quite nice family detention center in 2015 is here.)

ZOMBIES AMONG US:

We live in a world of political zombies. No matter how many times the “wage gap” is debunked, it comes back again, hungry for our brains. https://t.co/ARX91G0ilH

— Gail Heriot (@GailHeriot) March 15, 2023

The little girl who (supposedly) wrote the message can be forgiven.  Biden … not so much.

ARE YOU (OR DO YOU KNOW) A LAW STUDENT INTERESTED IN CIVIL RIGHTS LAW?:  The Center for Equal Opportunity is accepting applications for its Civil Rights Fellowship.  The program, which takes place August 7-11 in Washington, DC, is intended for law students interested in learning about civil rights law, policy and enforcement practices.   Lodging, meals, and travels expenses are provided as well as a $500 stipend.

There aren’t nearly enough young conservative or libertarian lawyers knowledgeable about civil rights law and willing to work in this area.  This program is intended to help solve that problem.  But while CEO itself has a proud history of advocating equal treatment for all, the program welcomes students of differing views.  The more we talk to each other, the more we learn.

I taught in the program last year.  I’m not sure if I’ll be teaching in it this year … but I might be.

WAITING FOR THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION IN HARVARD/UNC:  This is an older article, but if you haven’t had a chance to read about mismatch yet, it has the virtue of being short:  “Want to be a Doctor?  A Scientist?  An Engineer?  An Affirmative Action Leg Up May Hurt Your Chances.”  (Longer discussion of mismatch here.)

The Supreme Court’s decision will come out sometime between now and the end of June.  June is a better bet than March, April or May.

“AN AGENDA FOR CONGRESS“:  I got to talk about this paper a bit over the weekend at a small gathering in Santa Monica.  It’s good to get meet with people who are serious about getting the country back on track.

DeSANTIS GETS BRAGGING RIGHTS:  I haven’t made it a secret that I am a fan of Governor DeSantis.  Last September, I worried that he would be unfairly blamed for whatever damage Hurricane Ian was able to inflict on the Sunshine State.  (As you will recall, the mainstream media was weirdly successful in convincing the country that Bush was to blame for Hurricane Katrina, and far too many Americans bought the story that Trump was to blame for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico).   Fortunately, DeSantis has been able to point out how successful he was in dealing with Ian (most recently in his State of the State address a few days ago).  Purr.

TIME FOR A LITTLE REALISM:  A few years back, at a briefing held before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a well-dressed man with Down Syndrome testified that he “wanted to have a job where I could wear a suit and tie and carry a briefcase and be a professional like my dad who was a teacher.”

It would have been cruel to tell him that he was not going to be a physician, a scientist, an engineer, a dentist, or a lawyer.   Nor was he likely to end up in one of the many other challenging jobs where intellectual aptitude matters.  No one in attendance would have dreamed of being that cruel.

He gave a speech that was almost certainly written by somebody else.  In it, he said that, growing up, he had felt “segregated, devalued, invisible and not respected,” all of which may well have been true. After the briefing he was shuffled off by his minder.  It was obvious he had not gotten to the Commission offices by himself.  (On the other hand, it is important not to underestimate him or any other Down Syndrome adult.  I thought he did quite well considering his situation.)

He was there on behalf of the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress.  In that capacity, he was advocating for the repeal of a federal program that allows a limited number of employers to hire Down Syndrome and other severely disabled workers at less than minimum wage.  This highly regulated program (Section 14c of the Fair Labor Standards Act) was created during the FDR Administration.  It makes it possible for many otherwise unemployable individuals to find employment.

Some of those who argue for the program’s repeal are honest about it:  They admit that many severely disabled workers will not be able to find jobs at competitive wages.  The jobs they are currently doing will either disappear entirely or be filled by more efficient workers, probably recent immigrants with poor English skills and little education.  Even so, those recent immigrants will likely be more productive than most of the severely disabled individuals who hold the jobs now.  As far as I can tell, the biggest beneficiary of a repeal will be the SEIU.

Those who are honest about it further admit that states will instead have to expand their social services programs to include more daycare for the severely disabled.  I don’t see how this solves the witness’s feeling of being “segregated, devalued, invisible, and not respected.”  It seems to me it makes it worse.

That’s seems to be what the family members of these individuals think, too.  While the Commission was working on the report, we were deluged with comments—almost 10,000 of them—of which 98% asked for the program be continued.

(more…)

HOW COULD I FORGET OUR ANNIVERSARY?:  Yesterday was the anniversary of the Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) decision, in which the Supreme Court adopted disparate impact liability under Title VII.  If you want to understand just how awful this decision was (and is), read “Title VII Disparate Impact Liability Makes Almost Everything Presumptively Illegal.” Griggs brought us to where we are today–where the desire for equal outcomes rather than equal opportunity drives federal policy.

SHE SAID IT:  The Biden Administration can hardly deny what they mean by the term “equity” now.

In this campaign video, Kamala Harris made it clear that “equity” means equality of outcome, not equal treatment. The new Exec Order on equity implements this vision throughout the federal government.

This op-ed on the Exec Order is well worth reading:https://t.co/gKiTCdDZII https://t.co/ADPAcBMltx

— Gail Heriot (@GailHeriot) March 6, 2023

It’s very clear:  When the Biden Administration says “equity,” it means equality of outcome, not equality of treatment.

TITLE IX:  I believe it would be useful for Congress to conduct hearings on the Biden Administration’s push toward requiring schools to allow “transgender women” (i.e. biological and anatomical men who “identify” as women) to use the women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and showers and to play in women’s athletics.  Three of my colleagues on the Commission on Civil Rights agree.  (Here’s the legal argument Peter Kirsanow and I have made before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.)

ALISON SOMIN:  “New Executive Order Will Expand Race Preferences Throughout the Federal Government.”

HELLBOUND:  On this day in 1953, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union and all-around murderous, totalitarian commie, kicked the bucket.

The cult of Stalin was so strong—not too different from the North Korean cult of Kim Jong-Il in our day—that hysterical crying was heard everywhere (well … maybe not in some quarters in Siberia).   Even some whose family members had been on the receiving end of Stalin’s abuses mourned.

One university student later reported, “I saw a party official weep so hard that she couldn’t even stand … and our Marxism teacher, a very nice person, actually, said:  ‘If one would ask what’s most important for me … I’d say my daughter, of course.  But if I could give her away to resurrect him, I would do that.’”

In death as in life, Stalin caused the death and destruction of the Soviet people.  Party officials hastily organized a memorial ceremony.  The crowd grew so large and so tightly packed that individuals could do nothing but go with the flow.  No one knows for sure how many were killed when the crowd began to stampede.  Estimates range from several dozens to several thousands.

I’M SHOCKED:  “Resumes Including ‘They/Them’ Pronouns Are More Likely to Be Overlooked, New Report Finds.”

QUELLE SURPRISE:  “LGBTQ Slurs Found at MIT Done by Students Protesting School’s New Pro-Free Speech Efforts.”

DELAWARE DUMBS IT DOWN: “Delaware Lowers Passing Score on Bar Exam in Push for Racial Diversity:  ‘Not Supposed to be a Barrier.'”  (Actually, not knowing enough about law is supposed to be a barrier, but I guess I’ll have to let that slide.)

RICHARD CORY:  I thought of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem (and Simon and Garfunkel’s song based on the poem) when I heard of billionaire Thomas Lee’s suicide:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee.

SCOTUS 101:  GianCarlo Canaparo recently had me on his podcast to talk about the Harvard and UNC cases.  Thanks, GianCarlo!

HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH:  “Welcome to America’s Racialized Medical Schools.”

MAMAS, DON’T LET YOUR BABIES READ MAGAZINES LIKE TEEN VOGUE:  It comes up on my Google searches now and then and is always wrong, such as here where it calls the subminimum wage for workers will severe disabilities “a disgrace.”  Why can’t these magazines stick to fashion-conscious sunglasses and new lipstick shades?  Here’s some truth:  Not many employers will be willing to pay a Down syndrome workers $20 an hour.   That’s why the parents of Down syndrome workers overwhelmingly opposed getting rid of the subminimum option when the issue came before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  It means no jobs.

GOOD POINT: “If equity is so important, why not eliminate varsity sports?“

BYE:  “Two Woke Authoritarians Make Their Exit.”

YES, I KNOW:  “Most Americans Think College Admissions Should Not Consider Race.”  What’s more, the fact that most Americans think college admissions should not consider race, should make it impossible for colleges to carry their burden of showing that they’ve got a compelling reason to do so.

REALITY’S LAST STAND:  “DEI Is Destroying My University.”  (Mine too.  Join the club.)