Jobs used to be tough to come by for convicted criminals once they left prison, and for good reason.
They’re felons. Their backgrounds should be weighed more heavily than the average person.
Obama would disagree.
The Obama administration has ordered the nation’s colleges and universities to stop asking applicants about criminal and school disciplinary history because it discriminates against minorities. Institutions are also being asked to offer those with criminal records special support services such as counseling, mentoring and legal aid once enrolled. The government’s official term for these perspective students is “justice-involved individuals” and the new directive aims to remove barriers to higher education for the overwhelmingly minority population that’s had encounters with the law or disciplinary issues through high school.
Instructions are outlined in a cumbersome document (Beyond the Box) issued by the U.S Department of Education (ED) this month. It says that “data show plainly that people of color are more likely to come in contact with the justice system due, in part, to punitive school disciplinary policies that disproportionately impact certain student groups and racial profiling.” Because education can be a powerful pathway to transition out of prison and into the workforce, it’s critical to ensure that admissions practices don’t disproportionately disadvantage justice involved individuals, the directive states. Colleges and universities should also refrain from inquiring about a student’s school disciplinary history—including past academic dishonesty—because that too discriminates against minorities. Civil rights data compiled by ED show “black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students and often for the same types of infractions.”
This administration’s priorities are the most skewed we’ve seen in our lifetimes.
Everything is about race. Everything.
If not race, we’re talking about gays. If not gays, we’re talking about who should be able to use which restroom. If not that, we’re discussing whether or not women should be on the front lines of battle.
Why isn’t the focus on ISIS; on the economy; on the millions out of work and on food stamps?
How can America be great if we continually lower our standards?