Why ending affirmative action makes America less secure

Video: Dear John Roberts: Ending affirmative action makes our country less secure

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   >>> before brown versus board of education , there was another directive by harry s. truman which banned diskrcrimination of anyone in the military regard l regardless of race, creed or religious beliefs. it with was a historical truth that the u.s. military described as an engine of war by progressives has been a leading institution for fight for racial equality , and because the military leaders carry great weight with many americans, i thought i would remind one american in particular just where the military stands on a decision he will be making very soon. my letter this week is to supreme court chief justice john roberts as he considers a challenge to the affirmative action program at the university of texas . dear chief justice roberts , it is me, e melissa. remember last june you were the deciding vote to uphold the affordable health care act, yeah? well, that was a cool way to ensure the legacy and in truth, it gave me faith that despite your ideologically derived positions and the willingness to overturn established precedent, you might be open to reasonable evidence-based arguments about what is good for our country. which is why i now draw your attention to the affirmative action case before you "fisher versus university of texas " the one that challenges the practice of including race as one of the factors in the college admissions process. i know you have made your thoughts on affirmative action known before and most notably in 2007 when you wrote that the way to stop discrimination on the b basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. mr. chief justice, you know better, it is not that simple. racial bias is pervasive and deeply entrenched, but we are not helpless, and we know how the address it. one of the best examples of how to do so is on your desk right there. right there, under you swearing in president obama twice. under the court brief filed under the who's who of retired military generals and three former chairmen of the joint chiefs . and one thing that will work in the briefs is that of 1967 to 1991 as a result of the aggressive policy of affirmative action , the military quadrupled the commission of minority leaders compared to 2% of fortune 500 countries are african-american, the u.s. army can boast that 8% of active duty officers are black. but the success of military action is not just cosmetic, but it is mission critical , and the brief points out that any ruling in the university of texas case could have an impact beyond academia and without fur thther action the military could struggle to have a diverse officer corps and saying that a highly qualify and racial core is not a lofty idea, but a mission critical national security interest. mr. chief justice, 27 united military generals and admirals are trying to tell you something essential about affirmative action . it is going to make us safer. and one of the keys to the diverse military e leadship is the college rotc programs including the one in university of texas where the military turns for future officers. and i have the criticisms of the campus-based rotc programs, but if we draw the officers from colleges, we have to make sure that the colleges look like the country, so chief justice roberts when you consider the pending "fisher versus the university of texas " case, listen to the admirals and the generals with more than 1,200 years of combined service who are trying to tell you something important. if you end affirmative action , you are making our country less secure. surely, that is not what you want your legacy to be. sincerely, melissa. [ male announcer

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