Comment by oceanplexian
2 years ago
It’s a bona fide occupational qualification, it’s completely legal under the Civil Rights Act and works the same way if for example Hollywood wants to hire a black actor or a Las Vegas club wants to hire female dancers. If said discrimination is necessary for a legitimate business function (And meets a couple of tests) it’s completely legal.
> It’s a bona fide occupational qualification, it’s completely legal under the Civil Rights Act and works the same way if for example Hollywood wants to hire a black actor or a Las Vegas club wants to hire female dancers.
I think you've misunderstood. It's clear from the article that the "Black squad" was so named because it specialised in investigating suspects who were Black, not because the officers in it were themselves Black.
I imagine the officers best at investigating black crime would either be black or have good contacts within that community.
Or be racist
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In this case the article says that the former member of the squad, Kinch, described himself in a Facebook post as being White.
> It’s a bona fide occupational qualification
A BFOQ can only apply to private hiring discrimination, not "having a separate police force when you are suspected of a crime based on race" discrimination. It's not employment rights at issue, so occupational qualifications are not relevant.
OTOH, the issue here is probably more 14th Amendment equal protection than statutory rights.
On the gripping hand, American police departments having racist practices that are internally well-known, and not being held accountable for them is..not at all surprising.
Black Squad refers to who they are investigating, not the officers themselves.