Word: pasts
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...wake of recent U.S.-Soviet summits and Gorbachev's promises of military cutbacks, Bundy's book arrives right on time to provide the new Bush Administration and those concerned about current foreign policy decisions with a much needed perspective on past presidential decision-making and the possibility for future nuclear stability...
Ronald Reagan never made any secret of his distaste for affirmative action -- the attempt to remedy past discrimination by giving preferential treatment to minorities. Last week, only days after Reagan left office, his goal of reining in such programs got a major boost from the Supreme Court. By a 6-to-3 vote, the court struck down a Richmond ordinance intended to guarantee blacks and other minorities a greater share of the city's construction contracts. The decision not only threatened similar programs in 36 states but also potentially opened the door to legal attacks against other racially based government...
...minority-owned construction firms. The council found that although Richmond's population was half black, less than 1% of all public- works contracts had gone to minority firms. But Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing for the majority, charged that the city had not specifically proved a level of past discrimination that would support its 30% set-aside rule. Wrote O'Connor: "An amorphous claim that there has been past discrimination in a particular industry cannot justify the use of an unyielding racial quota." Although the Richmond law was intended to help minorities, she argued, quota systems are inherently dangerous...
...limitations, the death knell has not yet sounded for affirmative action. Last week's decision did not affect plans by private companies to increase minority hiring, nor did it nullify the Federal Government's set-aside program. Some experts, moreover, feel that local governments may be able to document past inequities in a way that would satisfy the court. Says Parren Mitchell, chairman of the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense Fund: "The evidence of discrimination necessary to justify affirmative action on behalf of minority businesses exists...
...Salang Highway, roads into the city are cut, resulting in shortages of bread, diesel fuel, sugar, kerosene and other basics; electricity is available only part of the time. The Kabul grain silo, which usually holds a stock of 20,000 tons, has been empty at several points in the past few weeks. The poor are especially vulnerable because they cannot afford to shop at relatively well-stocked black-market outlets where bread is sold for more than a dollar a loaf, ten times the official price...