By Judge Greg Mathis

In 1954, the United States Supreme court ruled that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional.

That ruling, handed down in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case, opened the door to a higher quality education for African-American children. On June 28, 2007, the United State Supreme court turned back the clock 50-plus years, restricting public school district's ability to use race to determine which schools students can attend. With this decision, school districts are no longer under pressure to make sure all students have an opportunity to attend high-quality schools. While the conservative court is to be blamed for such a short-sighted ruling, so is the American public. Had enough "liberal" or moderates voted in the 2000 and 2004 elections, we wouldn't have our current president; Bush appointed the two judges, Alito and Roberts, who have dramatically shifted the court's political and ideological make-up.

White parents in Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Kentucky, separately filed suit against their public school districts, arguing that the district's school assignment plans, which used student's race as one factor to determine which school a student is assigned to, was a form of reverse discrimination. The school districts were attempting to achieve racially balanced schools; several studies indicate that students - regardless of race - attending diverse, integrated schools perform better academically. Though the lower courts ruled that school districts in each case had not violated any individual rights, the Supreme Court decided to hear the cases anyway. This move was a cause for alarm - the Supreme Court has no need to hear a case when the lower courts are all in agreement; it was clear the new, conservative court was on a mission to chip away at affirmative action policies. They are slowly realizing their plan.

Just a few years ago, four to be exact, the court upheld using race as one factor in the graduate school admissions process in the University of Michigan Law School case. The difference between that court and today's court? The absence of moderate justices. In 2003, now retired justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the deciding vote.

The president's term is almost over. But Supreme Court justices serve for life. As a nation, we’ll have to deal with the consequences of the decisions of this administration for many years to come. Though Bush and his cronies utilized sketchy tactics to win the White House, we can’t ignore this reality: if more socially conscious people had turned out to vote in the last presidential elections, the tactics used to steal the election would have been invalid. Now, we’re left worrying what civil liberties and rights the Court will attack next. A woman’s right to choose? Affirmative action in the work place? We’ll have to wait and see.

We can be proactive, however, in working to make sure our next president, if they have the opportunity, will be one who’ll select Court justices who’ll work to protect the rights of all citizens and fight to uphold the legal promises made to people of color during the civil rights movement. Educate yourself on the issues and the candidates.

Volunteer with Rainbow PUSH, the NAACP or your local social justice organization now; this is the time to start voter registration and education campaigns. On Election Day 2008, contact everyone you know and urge them to exercise their right to vote. By turning out, we can perhaps avoid another four years of social setbacks.

Editor’s note: Judge Greg Mathis is national vice president of Rainbow PUSH and a national board member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

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