No whites need apply

In yesterday's newspaper:

NEW ORLEANS -- U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle says even though the Tangipahoe Parish School Board did not discriminate when it hired Mark Vining, a white man, as Amite High School head football coach, they must replace him with the black applicant, Alden Foster, whom they didn't hire.

The judge says there was nothing inherently wrong in the decision to hire Coach Vining over Coach Foster, but the district just doesn't have enough black coaches. So until the district reaches a ratio of at least 40 black coaches to 60 white coaches, no whites need apply. Doesn't matter if a black person knows a volleyball from a football, he still gets the job over any white applicant.

Hey, Judge Lemelle, you ever heard of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Here's a direct quote:

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer - (1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

Is Mark Vining being replaced for any reason other than his skin color? Aren't you ordering that coaches be hired on the basis of their skin color? Aren't you violating the very act you purport to be enforcing?

Maybe we need to make a rule for judges -- "No idiots need apply."