June 29, 2007 04:57 PM UTC

Democratic Candidates v Supreme Court -- The Politics of Race

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• by: bpilgram

Today’s AP report on the Democratic debate that focused on Thursday’s Supreme Court decision that effectively reversed Brown v Board of Education.  The text of the decision (185 pages long — Parents v Seattle School Dist #1) can be found here …

http://www.supremeco…

This is the latest in a string of 5-4 decisions from the Supreme Court that reverses some long time precedents.

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Democrats Focus on Supreme Court Ruling

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidates stood united Thursday night against the Supreme Court and its historic ruling rolling back a half-century of school desegregation laws. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said the conservative court “turned the clock back” on history.

Sen. Barack Obama, the only black candidate in the eight-person field, spoke of civil rights leaders who fought for Brown v. Board of Education and other precedents curbed by the High Court. “If it were not for them,” he said, “I would not be standing here.”

The 90-minute debate was the third gathering of the Democratic hopefuls in a presidential campaign that has gotten off to an unusually early start. While the first two debates focused on their narrow differences on Iraq, moderator Tavis Smiley promised to steer the candidates to other issues that matter to black America, including health care, education, criminal justice, police accountability, housing and voting rights.

The debate was conducted at Howard University, a historically black school in the nation’s capital.  Black voters are a large and critical part of the Democratic primary electorate, making the debate a must-attend for candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination. Civil rights activist Al Sharpton and Princeton University scholar Cornel West were among those in the audience.

Segregation was not the only issue. In turn, the candidates discussed their hopes to stem poverty, improve the economy and end the war in Iraq.  “This issue of poverty is the cause of my life,” said John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee.  Said Obama: “It starts with birth.”

A half century of desegregation law – and racial tension – was laid bare for the Democrats hours before they met. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court clamped historic new limits on school desegregation plans. The conservative majority cited the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to bolster its precedent-shattering decision, an act termed a “cruel irony” by Justice John Paul Stevens in his dissent. The 1954 ruling led to the end of state-sponsored school segregation in the United States.  “Yes, we have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,” Clinton said. “The march is not yet finished.”

Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware noted that he voted against the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the majority opinion. He said he was tough on Roberts. “The problem is the rest of us were not tough enough,” he said, seeming to take a jab at fellow Democrats. “They have turned the court upside down.”

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, the first major Hispanic presidential candidate, said the next president must lead on racial issues.

All the Democratic candidates in the Senate opposed the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Clinton, Biden and Obama voted against Chief Justice John Roberts; Dodd voted for his nomination.