On the surface, if her ruling had been upheld, it might look like a victory for minorities. And that would be incorrect.

Firefighter promotional exams are not slanted towards any group. It's how well you know city policy, the job you hope to get, and dealing with command. The information is there for any who wish to study it. One of the New Haven FF's is dyslexic and paid someone $1000 to read the material onto tapes so he could study better.

If these results had been thrown out, wouldn't that say to everyone, that African Americans need help to stand on an equal footing intellectually with whites and Hispanics ?

If a new test had been devised and somehow "curved" to help African Americans score better and get promoted, who in the department would believe they deserved it ? Would you want the best qualified officer looking after you in a life threatening situation, or the one who wasn't even in the top 20 of the original test ? Anyone promoted under such a cloud would not have the respect of his fellow firefighters.

The moral of the story...work hard, study hard, and no matter your race, that will determine how well you score.