The Issue: Judge Kimba Wood’s ruling that a basic competency test discriminates against minorities.
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The concept of “disparate impact” is the single worst intellectual fraud perpetrated on the public in my lifetime (“Reading, ’Riting and Race,” Editorial, Dec. 17).
If this is a valid legal philosophy, then our courts should be appointing special masters to empty out all the prisons and decide on compensation for the inmates, because the criminal statutes have a “disparate impact” on those who choose to violate them.Robert Palermo
West Orange, NJ
I once taught the preparation course for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test and I don’t remember any question that was remotely racist. My minority students did not cite any questions as racist.
Judge Kimba Wood’s ruling is simply an affirmative-action ruling, which would eventually lead to informal racial quotas, which were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1978 Bakke case.
I challenge Wood to point out one LAST question that she considers racist. Elio Valenti
Brooklyn
According to Wood, if you can read, write and do arithmetic, you are a racist. This takes stupid to a new level.
This 16-year-old lawsuit challenged a test that got rid of teachers who didn’t have the basic skills to be in the classroom — which any rational parent would want.
But not Wood, who slapped a judgment on New York City for violating the civil rights of morons.
Theodore Miraldi
The Bronx