“But there’s a second kind of ‘disparate impact,’ where the failings of minorities are used to blame American laws and lawmakers for racism. Here are some examples:
* “Felon Enfranchisement — felons can’t vote in many states. Democrats want them to be able to vote. This is disparate because more blacks are felons, color blind in the sense that people don’t want white felons voting.
(…)
* “Slums — the idea that an anti-crowding ordinance trying to prevent 10 unrelated laborers from sharing a two-bedroom apartment ‘targets families based on their nationality.’ Disparate because Americans don’t want to live that way, but Mexicans do.
* “Menthol Cigarettes — this one is weird. Black people smoke menthol cigarettes because they like them. A matter of personal taste, like Texans and chicken-fried steak. That means that the tobacco companies are accused of ‘marketing to them’ and this is bad because ‘the soothing effect of menthol enables deeper inhaling, menthol cigarettes have a disparate impact on black smokers’ health.’ A lawsuit based on that idea was filed under the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1870. Who the Texans are supposed to sue for chicken-fried steak, I can’t say…”
Read the whole thing.
