I was hoping that degsme would reply to my earlier post because he obviously had insight in to the Seattle system.

I disagree with Iwasblind because a lot of what you are saying is theory and makes for great t-shirt slogans. In reality a lot of these ideas don't pan out. Everyone grows up in a "culture" whether it is European, African, Asian, South American, etc. Nobody has a choice in this. And for the most part it is a universal truth that people feel more comfortable in their own "culture." This can be teased out. I have white friends who grew up in Africa and they identify with African culture in a way I never will. It is a culture that is comforting to them. That was my point.

I don't think the Seattle Schools ever set out to brainwash anyone. I think their intentions were in the right place, but according to the Supreme Court benign intentions are not enough to make up for the fact that their idea of diversity was just a proxy for racial quotas. Defining "diversity" is really the problem and the reason that I started this thread. No one so far has been able to define "diversity" in any meaningful way. It is the reason the school districts lost their case. At the higher ed level, law school admissions officers were able to make the argument that they were looking at a variety of different characteristics. Seattle and Louisville couldn't do that.

For years, Seattle tried to integrate its schools and in my opinion the results were devastating. The schools are still very good, but they no longer serve the whole city. They only serve those who can't afford to send their kids to private school or move to the suburbs. That isn't good enough, and it wasn't good enough for the Involved Parents.

I agree with Justice Kennedy. Intergration and diversity are important goals although it is almost impossible to define these terms. And it will probably be at the heart of any future cases in the area.

I also like that Justice Breyer discussed the history of the educational racial divide in his dissent, but he overemphasizes the connection between our national racial history and our local racial history. Before 1970, Seattle had not failed its minority population. (Not in any significant way that can't be divorced from failing its poorest citizens.) And yet Seattle set out to right a national wrong and did so with a system that judged individuals on the color of their skin. How can we not all agree that this was wrong?