ICYMI - Senator Mark Pryor & Racial Discrimination

In cased you missed this item along with us, Val's Bien blog as an Arkansan calls into questions Senator Mark Pryor request to have a a federal judgeship filled not by a person that is most qualified but by a person because of his race. Val says:

"Sen Mark Pryor uses a really poor requirement for appointing a federal judgeship in Arkansas. U.S. Senator Mark Pryor is urging President Bush to nominate an African-American to fill the federal judgeship in Arkansas left vacant with the death of U.S. District Judge George Howard Junior. Howard was Arkansas' first black federal judge.

I really hate it when people exhibit the "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Pryor wants a black on the court even if there are better and more qualified whites to fill the office. It is utterly ridiculous to fill an office with a black just because the previous judge was black. Actually, I think it's a big insult to Judge George Howard Junior. That the only reason he was selected as a judge was because he was black."

Also See: NAACP Head Skeptical Of Judicial Selections: The head of the Arkansas NAACP on Friday challenged 3rd District Rep. John Boozman's commitment to diversity in the judiciary after the congressman announced six candidates for a vacant federal judge position. Boozman, R-Rogers, forwarded the names of three whites and three blacks to President Bush, who will select one person from that list to replace the late U.S. District Judge George Howard, who was black. Dale Charles, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's state conference said he thought only blacks should have been on the list. . . . Boozman said he looked for the best candidates for the job, regardless of race. [What a reversal, NAACP President want to discriminate to have alleged diversity and to have only black candidates submitted while Congressman Boozman looked for the best regardless of color. 79.4 % of this judicial district is NOT black and predominantly white while 20.6 % is black. Boozman submitted three black nominees (50% of the nominations) and the NAACP objects. Anyone else see a problem with this pandering by the NCAA verses their seeking the best for its constituents by having the best qualified - regardless of race - serving on the federal bench? What if that person is Asian or Hispanic let alone Caucasian, does the NAACP wish to discriminate?]
Tags: discrimination, federal judges, John Boozman, Mark Pryor, NAACP, racial quotas, Senator