photo by steed media service

Irony has an unusually bizarre way of showing its head. While in the Orlando area this past weekend, I picked up an edition of the Orlando Sentinel - a move that lead many to discern that I was not from around those parts. Although I was really interested in getting a recap of the 2007 NBA draft, two stories on the front page adjacent to each other caught my eye.
The first regarded a decision by Disney to reverse lifetime bans on four 17-year old African American male youth (who happened to be Florida State University Football prospects, for loitering on the theme park's grounds)). The four were Avis Commack, Nigel Carr and Nickolas Moody and Vincent Williams. The decision was reversed after Philadelphia-based civil rights attorney Adrian J. Moody (father of Nickolas) looked into the situation to see if Disney was using racial profiling given that 45 of the 46 citations issued for loitering were given to African American and Latino youth. The other story regarded the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to limit the use of students' race in efforts to build diversity in schools. Justice John Roberts announced the 5-4 decision. It is just one decision in a line of many that seems to suggest that the court has moved to the other side - almost Reaganesque. From Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood of America to Meredith v. Jefferson County. It just seems so ironic, the juxtaposition of knowing that one can no longer use race for the purpose of educational diversity, but that it's OK to pick people out and use it to ban or even jail them. Thumbs up to the new court for playing the race card. -torrance stephens