Civil Rights Reverses

I wish to comment on the column by Richard N. Goodwin, “The Means to Racial Justice Are Undone,” Op-Ed Page, June 22. He has a well-documented case against the Supreme Court which he says is swiftly transforming itself into a bastion of racial bigotry.

We who follow civil rights activities in this country predicted that the Reagan Administration with its calculated and carefully “stacked deck” of Supreme Court appointments planned to wipe out as soon as possible all minority gains and fair employment practices, equal opportunities and social justice for all minority citizens.

This kinder, a gentler nation predicted by President Bush has been snatched back into the past with a hateful undercurrent. Any fool can see without having to come up with the proof that discrimination and unequal opportunities exist often enough before certain groups can obtain a decent job. And now, this court of mostly old men, under the cloak of the supreme law of the land, is kicking around key phrases such as: arbitrary quota , and reverse discrimination with hateful undertones.

Goodwin’s column reminds me of the 1940s, when, as a free-lance photographer, I covered stories of picket lines, restrictive covenants protest marches, cases of unfair employment practices and the brutality by certain authorities.

Deja vu --we are being led into future of the 21st Century that steps back in time and does so with a calculated mean-spirited hatefulness.

VERA JACKSON

Corona