Taylor Apologized, But Has He Changed?

He's apologized, and that should be that. That's what some say in response to Mark Taylor's effort as a senator to reduce to one the number of majority black congressional districts in Georgia and his impassioned plea, "if you're tired of being bullied, and you're tired of paying for the sins of your fathers and grandfathers..." I don't doubt that Taylor recognized his political misstep and that he apologized for his mistake. My question is, has Taylor has changed? What in a man's character makes it possible for him, not only in the privacy of his own thoughts, but in the Georgia Senate, in front of other lawmakers, to stand and say those words? What does he offer as evidence of his transformation? His current choices?

Consider this: Mark Taylor has chosen as his campaign's attorney, A. Lee Parks, who has successfully challenged federal school desegregation orders as well as racial weighting in school admission policies.

In reference to his case against The University of Georgia, where the percentage of black students was about 6% at the time, Parks was quoted in the Washington Post in 2001 as follows: "For so long, the civil rights groups have tried to create a linkage between race and diversity, but now we can see that it's really nothing more than a racial quota system." (Walsh, Edward. Court Strikes Down Georgia Admissions Policy: Federal Appeals Panel Finds University's Race-Based 'Point' System Unconstitutional. The Washington Post, August 28, 2001.)

And, in a separate article, "It's an uncanny quota," Parks says. "They haven't proven there's any educational value to [diversity]. That's an assumption." (Cooper, Kenneth J. Leaders in a State That Once Fought Civil Rights Movement Rise to Defend University's Approach to Affirmative Action. The Washington Post, January 3, 2001)

According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, enrollment of black students at The University of Georgia has declined from 5.8% in 2001 to 4.6% in 2004. When ranked in terms of ratio of black students to black population in the state (28.7%), the performance of the University of Georgia is the worst among the nation’s flagship universities.

In addition, in what one writer called, the quiet death of school integration, A. Lee Parks represented white parents in Charlotte in Belk v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, a case that ended busing to achieve integration. Belk is especially significant because it revisits Swann the Supreme Court case that many credit for putting the teeth in Brown v. Board of Education. (Kirp, David. L. The Quiet Death of School Integration. The American Prospect, August 12, 2002)

Recently, in an effort that cost the Bibb County Board of Education about $200,000 in legal fees (for all counsel), Parks and another attorney represented white parents in Bibb County who sued contending that the M-to-M transfer policy implemented in lieu of busing to achieve racial balance should be subject to space availability. That successful negotiation also potentially opened the door to ending federal oversight of the desegregation of Bibb Schools, something the presiding judge has said he may be inclined to do when he revisits this case in one year. (Hubbard, Julie. Bibb Schools Paying $200,000.00 for Legal Fees. The Macon Telegraph, 4/06/2006.)

These are just a few of the cases the Taylor Campaign attorney has handled. Successful, no doubt, but in light of Taylor's remarks in the senate, does this choice raise some interesting questions?

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