What would happen if a public university tried to set up a set of special program to provide lucrative fellowship to white or male students (or – horrors – exclusively to white males) to the exclusion of women and minorities? There would be howls of outrage, and the courts would shut down the program in a flash. What’s more, minority politicians like Barack Obama would be demanding investigations and criminal charges.

But when programs are set up which apply equally repulsive criteria to exclude whites or males based upon race or sex, these same race-baiters remain mute on the issue of discrimination – and attack those who demand equal treatment in the distribution of government benefits.

President Bush's administration has threatened to sue Southern Illinois University, alleging its fellowship programs for minority and female students violate federal civil rights laws by discriminating against whites, men and others.

In a move Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said "just doesn't make sense," the U.S. Justice Department charged that three SIU programs that aim to increase minority enrollment in graduate school exclude whites, other minorities and males, in violation of Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act.

"The University has engaged in a pattern or practice of intentional discrimination against whites, non-preferred minorities and males,'' says a Justice Department letter sent to the university last week and obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The letter demands the university cease the fellowship programs, or the department's civil rights division will sue SIU by Nov. 18.

The university, of course, is fighting – and claiming since there are other programs that allow for white men to get fellowship, the racially and sexually exclusive programs are acceptable. The problem is, though, that the programs that are open to white men are not limited to white men – they also allow the participation of those who are entitled to receive the exclusive awards – meaning that the programs allow those individuals to receive two bites at the apple while white men get only one – based only on race and sex.

Oh, and Obama went a bit further in his comments on the challenge to the program.

A spokesman for the Justice Department's civil rights division declined comment Thursday, but Illinois' junior U.S. senator ridiculed the maneuver as a "cynical" bid to distract public attention from Bush's sagging popularity.

"One of my concerns has been with all the problems the Bush administration is having, that they'll start resorting to what they consider to be wedge issues as a way of helping themselves politically," Obama said.

"If anything, the White House should be doing everything it can to encourage more engineering students and Ph.D.'s. It strikes me as a completely unnecessary and divisive move and one that I think may be pretty cynical in its motive," Obama said.

Hey, I agree – the White House should be encouraging more engineering students and Ph.D.’s. However, it must do so in a way that complies with the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution and the various and sundry civil rights laws of the nation. How, Senator, could you possibly defend these programs when the person in charge of them makes the following definitive statements regarding them?

Pat McNeil, an assistant dean and administrator of the Underrepresented Fellowships Office, said she knows of no white students who have applied for the Bridge or Proactive Recruitment programs.

The Web site describing the Bridge program specifically says it is only open to members of underrepresented minority groups. Several white women who have "overcome hardship" have been awarded the Graduate Dean's Fellowship, even though women outnumber men at the university. White men need not apply, however. "I'll be upfront with you -- no white male will get this award,'' McNeil said.

Got that, sir – “no white male will get this award.” You would be up in arms if the statement were “no black male will get this award.” The difference is, I’m up in arms over racial discrimination regardless of the race of the victim. You, on the other hand, are only concerned if it is your race getting unconstitutionally excluded from participation in government programs. That, sir, is rank hypocrisy.

Oh, yeah, about the comment that no white students had applied for two of the programs – could it be that the cause lies in the explicit exclusion of whites from the program? After all, who is going to apply for a program that states in the application packet that they will not be considered for selection?

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La Shawn has what I think is the most compelling argument against programs like the one at SIU.

A government with the power to discriminate in favor of blacks also has the power to discriminate against blacks. Remember that.

Amen, my sister.

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