As a long-time newspaper reader, I've learned that one has to read Bonnie Erbe's columns carefully, as she has the habit of masquerading her opinions as facts.
Today's column, appearing in the MetroWest Daily News as "Affirmative action's end?" is based on an Erbe opinion written as an Erbe fact. Erbe writes, "If, as in New Haven's case, only one ethnic group can pass the test, the test is deemed to be creating a disparate impact on other groups (in this case, blacks or in other cases Hispanics, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and so on) and must be discarded."
The key phrase here is ".. as in New Haven's case, only one ethnic group can pass the test." Is it true that the test allowed only one ethnic group to pass the test? Could only one ethnic group pass the test? Or DID only one ethnic group pass the test?
From what I've read, there was nothing about the test that prevented any ethnic group from passing it. Perhaps Bonnie Erbe knows more than I do about the construction of the test. Or perhaps Bonnie Erbe needs the phrase to be true to make her case.
It appears to this reader that Bonnie Erbe is confusing what DID happen with what COULD happen. If she believes that there was no way that certain ethnic groups COULD pass the test, then she needs to make that point. As her column is written, she hasn't made that point.
DAVE PASQUANTONIO
Millis
