I’m no lawyer, but I had been under the impression that discrimination on the basis of race (or gender) was not only wrong, but illegal.

I think it’s easy to see how the text of I-200, which passed with 58% of the vote, might lead me to believe this:

AN ACT Relating to prohibiting government entities from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin; and adding new sections to chapter 49.60 RCW.

Apparently this needed some clarification by the Supreme Court of the United States. I’m no lawyer, but I think it just got more illegal to discriminate on the basis of race.

The local press, who seem to be in favor of racial discrimination, has 3 storylines in response to this.  

1. It’s barely newsworthy. The Seattle School Board used race as a “tiebreaker”. In exceptional cases. No worries.
2. The School Board is deeply committed to racial discrimination. The fact that it is illegal is a technicality that can be managed by committees of experts and lawyers. No worries.
3. It’s a crisis. Clear evidence that a significant number of Americans plan a return to slavery. The only way we can ensure Martin Luther King’s hope that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character is to institutionalize discrimination on the basis of race.

 I'm no journalist, but the irony of combining all three storylines in the same article seems to escape the authors.

 Mike.