A prominent African American leader in Norwalk is very disappointed with the Supreme Court's ruling for the white New Haven Firefighters. Reverend Lindsay Curtis, President of the Norwalk chapter of the NAACP and Pastor of Grace Baptist Church, feels that Monday's ruling weakens the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Dr. Curtis says that Federal Appeals Court Judge and Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, voted against the fire fighters, in the original case, because she was following the precedent of the civil rights law. As a result of the high court overturning the original ruling favoring New Haven, Dr. Curtis thinks that this is a major step backward in the context of 400 years of descrimination against African Americans. He says that a positive aspect of the Supreme Court case is that the vote was very close and that four justices believe that the Civil Rights Act was the correct reference used in the original ruling. 

Despite years of postive change in America when it comes to race, Dr. Curtis feels that "We are not there yet" and that some people wrongly think that just because President Obama is in the White House, that race descrimination is no longer a major conern in the U.S.