Racial discrimination is still occurring in the United States. Wake up American. Racial discrimination is bad for our people, our businesses, and our nation. Let's start a national educational campaign to teach tolerance and defeat hatred and discrimination.

Racial Discrimination in the United States - The subtle and ever present insidious discrimination

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln, as Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy, under Article II, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution issued two executive orders freeing slaves in the confederate States. These executive orders are collectively referred to as the Emancipation Proclamation. On December 6, 1865, the U.S. added the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which abolished slavery. In 1887 the U.S. added another amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 15th amendment, which provides that suffrage can no longer be restricted by race. Then in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed guaranteeing civil rights and prohibiting racial discrimination. Most states have similar laws and expressed stated public policy that racial discrimination is unlawful.

Then why do we still have racial discrimination? People have fears and prejudices instilled at early ages other develop those fears and prejudices as they move through life. But the sad reality is that racial discrimination exists and the victims of racial discrimination suffer severe emotional distress and economic disaster. The U.S. can do better. The U.S. needs to do better. Laws are not enough. We need a national push for education against hatred and racial prejudice. We need educational campaigns that tell the real story of those who fall victim to hatred and prejudice.

Don't think that racial discrimination is just happening in the dark corners of business. It isn't. Employers and companies engage in subtle, systematic racial discrimination. Sophisticated methods are devised to get around public policy and the common good which inevitably adversely target racial minorities. Recently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States reversed a U.S. District Court ruling that would, in theory, have allowed an insurance company to use secret formulas to determine the cost of insurance which coincidentally and predictably resulted in higher premiums for racial minorities - African-Americans in particular than for Caucasians.

On May 12, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit handed down it decision in Ojo v. Farmers Group, Inc. et al which involved an African-American insured who filed a class action against Farmers and others to remedy alleged racial discrimination in assessing higher premiums for homeowner's property and casualty insurance for African-Americans than are charged to Caucasians. The United States District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the claim reasoning that the claim was reverse-pre-empted by McCarran-Ferguson Act. Briefly, MacCarran-Ferguson Act is a federal law that establishes inverse preemption prohibiting a federal law of general applicability from pre-empting a state regulating the insurance business.

The District Court adopted Farmers' argument that although their secret scoring and protocol may adversely impact African-Americans who are not necessarily higher risks to be charged more than Caucasians, it did not violate any state law regulating the insurance business. The 9th Circuit decision discusses the laws in detail. But for purposes of understanding an ugly fact of present day life, it is sufficient to know that Farmers argued that it should be allowed to use its secret, propriety scoring system that resulted in higher premiums for African-American than it charged Caucasians. The 9th Circuit explained that allowing a company to use credit scoring that resulted in disparate discrimination against minorities was contrary to law and well established public policy prohibiting racial discrimination.

While the case has not been tried and the facts are yet to be disclosed, it is astounding that a company would advance theories that result in higher premiums for racial minorities than are charged Caucasians. And, it is even more astounding that a federal district court could selectively reason certain laws to allow the disparate racial discrimination. Fortunately, the 9th Circuit Court reversed the Central District Court's ruling and thereby advanced the progress of prohibiting discrimination by employers and companies. Wake up America. Our workforce, our businesses, and our entrepreneurial success are hindered by racial discrimination.

Source: huliq.com