Category: Category: awhaarvi

July 15, 2000 Jan Pudlow Regular News Hatchett ponders the future of affirmative action Hatchett ponders the future of affirmative action Associate EditorForty years ago, there was a time when Joseph Hatchett was not welcome at lunch.He was in Miami to take the Florida bar exam, and because of the color of his skin he was told he couldn’t eat lunch in the hotel with the rest of the test-takers.Another black law school graduate with Hatchett was very worried. Would they get back to the exam in time if they left the hotel? What if they failed?And Hatchett said calmly: “Don’t worry. If we fail the Florida bar exam, we’ll sue The Florida Bar.”Of course, he passed the test and went on to make history as the first black justice of the Florida Supreme Court, the first black elected to statewide office in the South, and the first black judge appointed to serve on a federal appellate court in the South.He was not only welcome at a luncheon sponsored by the Public Interest Law Section at the Bar’s Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, he was the guest of honor.And Hatchett was the first recipient of the Allan Terl Award, the namesake of the late Ft. Lauderdale attorney who won the Tobias Simon Award in 1994 for pro bono work as a zealous defender of civil liberties.In introducing Hatchett, PILS Chair Paolo Annino presented him not only with the engraved award, but a “Mr. Lincoln” rose, the kind the retired judge likes to grow. Noting that many stories about Hatchett say he “stepped down from the bench” to go into private practice, Annino said: “Looking at his history, Judge Hatchett has never stepped down from anything. His private practice now is continuing his work in civil rights.”From his Tallahassee office at Akerman Senterfitt, Hatchett volunteers his legal services to Floridians Representing Equity and Equality (FREE), a coalition working to keep Californian Ward Connerly’s anti-affirmative action amendment off the November ballot.After Annino hit on the dramatic highlights of his civil rights days in Florida, Hatchett called those days of the struggle the happiest days of his career because, “The world was so certain then. You could tell what was right and what was wrong.”The struggle continues, but right and wrong is not so certain, he said. Noting the mission statement of PILS — “to advocate for the legal needs of people who are generally disenfranchised, under-represented or lack meaningful access to traditional public forums” — Hatchett said that is at the heart of a great debate taking place in Florida and throughout the country. And that debate is about affirmative action, brought to the forefront recently by the anti-affirmative action petition drives by Connerly and the One Florida initiative of Gov. Jeb Bush that drew thousands of demonstrators to the Capitol steps.“It was much easier when I came to Florida in 1959 and in those glorious days, everyone knew exactly what was right. Everyone knew what was wrong. There wasn’t much question about it. The question was really how long was it going to take to strike down segregation and discrimination. How long would those who were under those burdens continue to struggle? But there was no question that sooner or later America would find the right solution to these problems,” Hatchett said.With school desegregation, Hatchett said, “Finally what we did was bus people into what were all-white schools and that pretty much took care of that.”The next challenge was allowing blacks to sit at lunch counters.“Anybody who wanted a sandwich could get one. The large chains finally decided that was right and there could be confusion in the streets if they didn’t. One day, some of them said all the lunch counters were open. And that was the end to that problem. So the right and the wrong was not in dispute. It was just a matter of working our way through it.“But now we come to something that is called affirmative action, and it gets a lot harder,” said Hatchett. “If you give me a hamburger and you give somebody else a hamburger at the same lunch counter, you’re not taking anything away from each other.. . . But now, when we talk about affirmative action, there are claims that the remedy you are seeking at this time is unfair. You’re taking something away from someone.”Complicating matters further, Hatchett said, is that “Now, there’s even a question among minorities as to whether affirmative action is really for everyone, for the well-educated of the black race, the poorly educated, the middle class. Who’s going to get the benefit from affirmative action?”One of the problems is struggling to agree on what the words “affirmative action” mean.“To Ward Connerly, it means preferences. No public preferences in employment, education and public contracting,” Hatchett said.“Gov. Bush says, `Well, it’s not so much about preferences. It’s about quotas. It’s about set-asides. And although I’m eliminating affirmative action, I’m going to be taking steps to increase the participation of minorities in contracting, in employment and in education.’”There is no general understanding of the words, and affirmative action has gotten a bad name. To fully appreciate why affirmative action is needed, Hatchett wove a history lesson into his speech, beginning with 400 years of slavery on through voting rights and fair housing laws.“I told you that history, so I can propose to you that that’s the history we’re trying to overcome with affirmative action. Slavery, court decisions, the half century of wandering around trying to find a way to afford equal opportunity.”Looking out at those attending the PILS luncheon he asked: “What shall we do about the effects resulting from such a history?”And he proposed four possible answers: 1.“There are no lingering effects of that history. Close the file. It’s all over.” 2.“Yes, there are lingering effects of that history, but we don’t care. We really don’t care about equal opportunity and equal access in this country.” 3.“Yes, there are lingering effects, but I didn’t participate in that, and I don’t have any duty to say anything about it.” 4.“Yes, there are lingering effects. And we’re smart enough and we’re strong enough and we’re rich enough as a nation to find some tool, to find some technique, to find some system, to find somehow to guarantee equal access and equal opportunity to all Americans.” And affirmative action is a tool toward that end. “There should be nothing strange about it,” Hatchett said. “We’ve lived with affirmative action programs all the way back to President Roosevelt.. . . This is not something brand new. Somehow it’s simply gotten a bad name or our national resolve has slipped in terms of making this one America.. . . “What we’re talking about is opportunity. You know, Branch Ricky didn’t teach Jackie Robinson how to play baseball. He gave him the opportunity to play baseball.. . . “That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to take those who are behind and to give them the opportunity to either prove that they can or prove that they cannot live up to whatever standards we have.”Thankfully, Hatchett said, America has made great progress in civil rights.“And, thankfully, we can now openly discuss these issues. There was a time when you couldn’t talk about them. It was not nice to talk about them. Well, I want you to talk about affirmative action. Talk about racial differences, talk about it everywhere you go. Do anything except not talk about it.”Our answers to these difficult questions will have to be different in this new century, Hatchett said.“Do we care about equal opportunities? Yes, we do. Are we going to discuss these issues and work at them openly? Yes, we are. And once we decide those are the proper answers, I’m sure that we will be able to overcome the disadvantages that have been suffered in this country, by this tool called affirmative action.. . . And if affirmative action is not the tool we need, please, let’s find another. But until then, let’s try that one.”