When questioned about the recent appointments of three white men, one white woman and one African American man to our appellate courts by a reporter from the Daily Report, Governor Deal gave his standard defense. He pointed to some of the appointments he has made of people of color and women and he asked a question. The question was “Is racial diversity more important than excellence?” The governor’s defense warrants an examination.
Georgia has the good fortune to be growing. As of June 2015, its population was estimated to exceed 10,000,000 people. More than 4,000,000 of those people are non-white. Slightly more than half of them are female. Unfortunately, when most of those Georgians enter the state’s courts they are unlikely to see anyone who looks like them among the judiciary at any level.
