The Supreme Court has acknowledged that efforts to make a more egalitarian society by means of government action have failed. Even without their latest ruling, statistics have shown that re-segregation of schools systems has occurred in many areas.

One of the popular arguments for not taking action is that racism no longer exists. The evidence cited includes the visibility of "minority" sports and entertainment figures and the multi-cultural makeup of many TV shows and films. Even interracial romantic couplings are now seen in films and TV.

On the other hand, when surveys are taken as to whether discrimination exists, minorities say yes in numbers as high as 80%. Tests of employment and housing opportunities using matched applicants who differ only by race show that this perception is still a reality. In one study white ex-felons were more likely to be hired than blacks without any criminal record.

Another argument that is used is that there is no such thing as "race". With people now coming from mixed backgrounds the lines of demarcation are becoming blurred. The census even established a category of "multi-racial" to deal with this situation. Few people chose it, however. I have a simple way to determine what your "race", ethnicity or other characteristic is: you are what your enemies say you are.

There are plenty of examples. The Nazis made arbitrary rules as to who was a Jew. In certain cases valuable citizens were declared "Aryan" or had their birth records altered. In the US during the peak immigration period around 1900 the Irish and Italians were not considered "white" but were assigned to their own "races". The situation with Asians in the US has also been undergoing a transformation over the past few decades. The "oriental" identity is fading and Asians are being treated more like "whites".

The crucial factor is that if your enemies assign you a category that is disfavored, whether this assignment is based upon something measurable, scientific, or even visible is irrelevant. You still end up discriminated against as a result. This is the truth the court has denied.

The present administration, congress and the Supreme Court are engaged in a rear-guard action to preserve the power and status of the WASP's (white Anglo-Saxon [mainline] protestants) who ran this country without challenge until recently. That this group no longer can maintain its hold can be seen in the makeup of the court itself. The five conservatives are all now Roman Catholics. This is a group that the WASP's used to discriminate against and is now forced into alliance with since they no longer constitute a majority of the population.

This attempt to hold on to power extends beyond the areas of employment, housing and education and into business as well. A quick look at the top management of any of the big firms will show that WASP men still account for the vast majority of these people. All big public firms now have a few token minority and women in top positions, but as everyone knows this is window dressing.

We are in the final stages of this game, demographic changes are taking place that will no longer allow this group to hold absolute control - that is if we continue to have a democratic society. Minorities can hold control if they use force, apartheid South Africa was a good example. In some areas of the country the population balance has already occurred, Texas is a good case. Those in power know that "minorities" are now the majority which is why Tom DeLay spent so much time and effort on gerrymandering the state. If the minorities in Texas voted in proportion to their numbers they could take over the state government. It is only a matter of time before this happens in some places. The transition that happened in city governments like Newark or Detroit was imperfect because the local governments don't have enough autonomy to change policies. The real power is still in the hands of the white state governments.

If the options for change continue to be thwarted by legal (and not-so-legal) means those on the short end of the stick will be forced into civil unrest. This is what happens in every society when things get bad enough. People have already forgotten the riots in Watts, Newark and Detroit, but the conditions which spawned them still exist, only this time those being discriminated against are not just blacks but the working and middle classes as well.

Change is inevitable. Wise leadership can make the transition smoother or small-minded leadership can try to hold back the tide and leave the society open to civil unrest. We know how those in power want to play the game, what about those who are trying to unseat them? Are they for real change or do they just want their turn at the feed trough?