Discrimination claim appears to divide high court

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared split today as it heard arguments on whether federal law bans discrimination against whites.

The case was brought by 20 white firefighters in New Haven, Conn. -- including one white Hispanic -- whose passing scores on a promotion test were thrown out because no blacks passed. Any eventual decision by the Supreme Court could decide the long-term fate of affirmative action in the United States.

Justice Anthony Kennedy appeared sympathetic to the suing firefighters, USA Today reported. Kennedy is often the swing vote on the nine-member court between the four justice liberal bloc and the four justice conservative bloc. From the bench, Kennedy said the city would have to show a compelling reason for throwing out the test results.

The 2003 exam was designed to select 15 candidates for captain and lieutenant. When no blacks and only one Hispanic scored a passing grade, the city decided not to use the results for promotions, saying it did not want exposure to suits from blacks and Hispanics.

A decision is expected later this year. New Haven is a racially mixed city. About 44 percent of its residents are White, 37 percent are Black, and 21 percent are Latino. CNN has more.


Tags: Supreme Court, Law, Civil Right, Reversed Discrimination, Education by Sistrunk

Newly-released photos reveal despair after MLK assassination

LIFE.com, the website of the defunct print magazine, has put online a series of previously unseen photographs taken following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The series of 13 photographs includes pictures of the cleaning up of the blood outside the Memphis, Tennessee, motel room where King was shot and a photo of his colleagues gathered in his room following his death.

The website accompanied the black-and-white pictures with comments from the LIFE photographer, Henry Groskinsky, who shot the pictures.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Groskinsky ended up in King’s hotel room, where the civil rights leader’s associates including Andrew Young and the Rev. Ralph David Abernathy Sr. were sadly assembled.

Life.com, a joint venture between Time Inc., which owns the LIFE archives, and the Getty Images photo service, went online on Tuesday.

The website features pictures from LIFE's historic collection and new photos from Getty.

The LIFE collection includes pictures from renowned photojournalists such as Gordon Parks, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, and W. Eugene Smith.


Tags: Martin Luther King Photos, Martin Luther King, History, Civil Rights, Photography, Life.com, Education by Sistrunk

Ruby Bridges still fights to keep hope alive

What happened to the girl in the Norman Rockwell painting?

Ruby Bridges was just six years old when she became the face of school integration in 1960. Now, as NBC's Martin Savidge reports, she's helping to save the school that made her famous.

Related: The Ruby Bridges Foundation


Tags: ruby bridges, civil rights, katrina, new orleans, educational equity, racism, race, education, k-12, public school education, african-american, education by sistrunk