@%%?! Affirmative Action Foes Push Ballot Initiatives

[jrellcuse10]

[size=+2]Affirmative Action Foes Push Ballot Initiatives[/size]
Activists, With Eyes on November, Focus on Five States

[size=-1]By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 26, 2008; A02
[/size]

CHICAGO -- Sixteen months after voters in Michigan voted to kill affirmative action in the public sphere, opponents of preferences based on race and gender are pushing five more states to ban the practice.

Foes of affirmative action, which is meant to address current and historical inequities, delivered 128,744 signatures to Colorado authorities earlier this month. Similar organizations in Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma and Nebraska are circulating petitions as civil rights groups and educators are mobilizing to defeat the measures.

The initiatives are spearheaded by Ward Connerly, the nation's most prominent opponent of affirmative action, who said he has raised about $1.5 million for the campaigns. He sees the November ballot initiatives as the next step in his drive to end preferences in public education, hiring and contracting.

"Without any doubt, we have to understand that race preferences are on the way out," said Connerly, who heads to Missouri next week to deliver speeches on behalf of that state's constitutional amendment, now tangled in a court battle over the ballot measure's wording.

In the states where Connerly's self-described "civil rights initiative" appears on the ballot, voters are likely to see it alongside the name of the first black or female major-party presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) Connerly contends that the success of Obama and Clinton shows that preferences are no longer necessary "to compensate for, quote, institutional racism and institutional sexism."

Connerly, a prosperous and conservative black Republican, said he contributed $500 to Obama's campaign to honor him "for trying to take race out of the body politic." Obama opposes Connerly's approach to affirmative action and lent his voice to a 2006 radio ad opposing the Connerly-sponsored Proposition 2 in Michigan. (The Obama campaign would not comment on whether it is keeping the money.)

Obama is not alone. Opponents of Connerly's effort are using legal challenges and grass-roots organizing techniques to keep the measures off the ballot, or to defeat them.

"As we feared, Connerly's attack on equal opportunity in Michigan has metastasized," said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "We know that most Americans support equal opportunity. They know that diversity is good for business, good for the classroom and ultimately good for the country."

Henderson dismissed Connerly's reference to Obama as a willingness to "seize on any factoid to justify his assault on equal opportunity" and added: "I am not surprised he would lift up the performance of Barack to say that race no longer matters in American life. That's a gross overstatement of the lives of most Americans."

Redditt Hudson, who heads the racial justice program in the St. Louis office of the American Civil Liberties Union, contends that the deck is stacked against qualified minority firms in Missouri. He said where affirmative action programs are absent from the local private sector, "you've got a minimal proportion of those contracting dollars going to minority-owned firms."

Hudson said a number of organizations are working to educate Missouri voters and hoping that Connerly's Missouri Civil Rights Initiative will fall short of the 140,000 to 150,000 signatures it needs to make the ballot.

Tim Asher, a former college admissions officer, is leading the Missouri ballot effort. He said the organization is on pace to meet a May 4 deadline, circulating petitions that contain language written by a judge, although the case remains on appeal.

Asher described affirmative action as a form of discrimination because it permits or requires the use of diversity as a factor in employment, contracting and university admission. He said diversity can be achieved through programs that target economically and socially disadvantaged people of all races.

"We need to get beyond race in this country and make sure that everyone is treated equally under the law," Asher said. His counterpart in Nebraska, management professor Marc Schneiderjans of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, said paid signature-gatherers in his state have been slowed by an unusually long Midwestern winter but will be back in action soon.

Hudson, of the Eastern Missouri ACLU, said opponents of affirmative action "fail to take into account the on-the-ground realities that continue to persist." Their victory, he said, "would undermine one of the greatest achievements of the civil rights era."

Ward Connelly is a joke. This man is Uncle Ruckus in the flesh. The Republicans may lose a voter (me) come November if this plan is not withdrawn.

 

[liban906]

we were talking about this in class today.

he came to arizona state university pushin his agenda

dude cannot be takin seriously. he is the personification of a self-hating black man. someone on campus asked him "aren't you black?" heresponded by saying "i'm 1/4 black and mixed between french, irish, native american, etc etc"

that sounded real uncle ruckish to me

whats really foul though is he got rich of affirmative action programs by securing government contracts for his company because it was minority owned

if any of you guys get some dudes comin up to you tryin to get you to sign petitions, please know what youre signing. i seen so many people around campus signthese petitions just because they hear "american civil rights institute" when they would be totally against it if they read it

 

[bluedawg24]

"We know that most Americans support equal opportunity. They know that diversity is good for business, good for the classroom and ultimately good for the country."


Well, whether or not you agree with affirmative action, depending on the language of the ballot initiative, if the above statement is true, then why not letthe voters decide? If most Americans indeed do support these programs, then why not put it on the ballot? If it fails then, well, you'd prove that citizensin a state do support the programs. However, if it fails, well, then it contradicts that notion

 

[dajoka004]

I do not like affirmative action at all when it comes to higher education opportunities. Is it really fair to watch lesser qualified individuals take spotsfrom qualified individuals? I'm all for promoting diversity. But diversity shouldn't be promoted at the expense of others. Being a minorityshouldn't make it easier for you. What should come into play is your life experiences. Obviously a black youth that had family problems and went to adisadvantaged public school in the inner city, yet still achieved a 3.5 GPA should be treated differently than a black youth that went to an expensive privateschool that achieved a 3.5 GPA. Yet under the current system in most cases, they're not. They're both treated as a minority, both have an advantage,albeit the troubled youth has a little more of an advantage.

 

[gko2408]

Has the idea of Income Based Preferences ever been brought up seriously? It always seemed like the most obvious and reasonable answer to Affirmative Action.While it wouldn't be intentionally helping minorities who are disadvantaged, it'd be helping most them indirectly because they do makeup adisproportionate amount of those in poverty. I like what AA is trying to do, but it is definitely abused. One of my friend's is 1/8th Puerto Rican, livesin one of the richest areas in the country (Bergen County), and was able to take advantage of AA.

 

[dirtylicious]

it's funny....when a little bit of that proverbial pie is taken away...NOW it's unfair...when throughout all of US history... the whole pie hasbelonged to ONE ethnicity.


A.A is a NECESSARY and ESSENTIAL avenue for equality.

 

[ebayologist]

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

it's funny....when a little bit of that proverbial pie is taken away...NOW it's unfair...when throughout all of US history... the whole pie has belonged to ONE ethnicity.


A.A is a NECESSARY and ESSENTIAL avenue for equality.

indeed. well put.

 

[datznasty]

What's the difference between Affirmative Action and Alumni/Legacy preference type programs? Do people even know that white women actually can and doqualify for A.A as well?

 

[dajoka004]

Originally Posted by DatZNasty

What's the difference between Affirmative Action and Alumni/Legacy preference type programs? Do people even know that white women actually can and do qualify for A.A as well?

Legacy is stupid too. College admissions should be based purely on qualification, character, and the path you took to get to where you are. Nothing elseshould matter.

 

[mrboss2you]

Everytime a black person comes out against affirmative action, they always get called a self-hating black person, or RACIST. blah blah. It's funny thoughbecause miniority's always ask to be treated like "equals" and having this law in place basically says "we are not equal, we need laws to beequal" If minorities want to be truely "equal" then give the job to the best person white/brown/black/yellow. Affirmative action is a joke.Maybe 30-40 years ago it was needed, but in 2008..... NO!! get rid of it.



....I am a minority.

 

[jrellcuse10]

Originally Posted by MrBoss2You

Everytime a black person comes out against affirmative action, they always get called a self-hating black person, or RACIST. blah blah. It's funny though because miniority's always ask to be treated like "equals" and having this law in place basically says "we are not equal, we need laws to be equal" If minorities want to be truely "equal" then give the job to the best person white/brown/black/yellow. Affirmative action is a joke. Maybe 30-40 years ago it was needed, but in 2008..... NO!! get rid of it.



....I am a minority.

I guess you've never heard of him. Look him up. Well-documented.

 

[throwedindagame]

Affirmative Action FTW

 

[liban906]

Originally Posted by MrBoss2You

Everytime a black person comes out against affirmative action, they always get called a self-hating black person, or RACIST. blah blah. It's funny though because miniority's always ask to be treated like "equals" and having this law in place basically says "we are not equal, we need laws to be equal" If minorities want to be truely "equal" then give the job to the best person white/brown/black/yellow. Affirmative action is a joke. Maybe 30-40 years ago it was needed, but in 2008..... NO!! get rid of it.



....I am a minority.

you my friend are very naive when it comes to the way the world works. its 2008 but you dont think years of slavery and jim crow goes away like that? itsonly been 54 years since schools were legally desegregated but generations of that mentality dont go away like that. you cant legislate one's heart.

believe it or not but even in 2008, theres some parts of this country where minorities are still looked down upon and are discriminated against. we havegotten far as a society but we havent become an equal one yet.

and for your comment about self-hating blacks, you need to read what ward connerly is really about. i called him a self-hating black man because he denieshe's black in the 1st place. like i said, he came on my campus a few months ago and this woman asked him what race he was. he said he was "1/4thblack" and the rest split between french, irish and some native american tribes. not only does he deny hes black but hes married to a white woman. i dontknow about you but that sounds like a self-hating black man. whats really foul though is that he got rich off A.A. programs and special gov't contractsgiven to minority companies

i wish we were a society that didnt need A.A. but in a country when blacks, asians, hispanics, jews, and even europeans were discriminated against forcenturies, we need to have some sort of program to reverse the impact

 

[datznasty]

Originally Posted by MrBoss2You

Everytime a black person comes out against affirmative action, they always get called a self-hating black person, or RACIST. blah blah. It's funny though because miniority's always ask to be treated like "equals" and having this law in place basically says "we are not equal, we need laws to be equal" If minorities want to be truely "equal" then give the job to the best person white/brown/black/yellow. Affirmative action is a joke. Maybe 30-40 years ago it was needed, but in 2008..... NO!! get rid of it.



....I am a minority.

Wrong. It's about the opportunity not always being equal, not the individuals involved. You're also giving A.A far too much credit making it soundlike black people automatically get every job they ever apply for or something and that's the only reason. It's like black is the new white. People aregoing to start claiming anything a black person ever got, he got because he was black as part of some reverse racist discrimination quota system. I heard adude talking about how he wishes he was black once, said it's like having a get out of jail (both literally and in the sense of any sort of trouble orunfavorable situation) free card.

It's one thing when it's just ignorant losers in their backwoods cities who think that way, but you still have people with power on an institutionallevel who are in charge of admissions, hiring, sentencing, etc. who have certain negative views about minorities and women that affect their decisions.

 

[bluedawg24]

So, is everyone against allowing voters to decide? I mean, if you really believe that the American people support these programs, why not put that to test andlet's vote to see?

 

[5am6oody72]

Originally Posted by DaJoka004

I do not like affirmative action at all when it comes to higher education opportunities. Is it really fair to watch lesser qualified individuals take spots from qualified individuals? I'm all for promoting diversity. But diversity shouldn't be promoted at the expense of others. Being a minority shouldn't make it easier for you. What should come into play is your life experiences. Obviously a black youth that had family problems and went to a disadvantaged public school in the inner city, yet still achieved a 3.5 GPA should be treated differently than a black youth that went to an expensive private school that achieved a 3.5 GPA. Yet under the current system in most cases, they're not. They're both treated as a minority, both have an advantage, albeit the troubled youth has a little more of an advantage.

I agree completely. The example you just gave happened in high school. My friend had a 3.8 GPA, 1340 SAT, and a gazillion extracurriculars and didn'tget into UVA. Another student in our class had a 3.4 SAT, 1240 SAT, and literally had almost no extracurriculars at all and he got in (everybody knows UVA isdesperately trying to create diversity). I live in northern VA, which is for the most part a very privileged area and the African kid that got in was prettywell-off. In a case like this, affirmative action didn't do what it was designed to do: lend a hand to the disadvantaged. Instead it made an invalidassumption and gave an unfair advantage to somebody who didn't need it.

 

[gino is best]

I hate affirmative action and I hate equality.

 

[chr1sb]

down with Affirmative Action.

let the most qualified be taken in. or, that income preference subject should play a larger role in selections.
but honestly, there are so many faults in the selection process already it's hard to make it perfect. to me, the easiest solution would be to just choosethe most qualified. Easy as that.

 

[vi alex iv]

I don't think that race should be put on any application to anything

 

[mrboss2you]

All I'm going to say to the guys who replied there's only 1 race bro, the human race. Social classification is always going to be there, the samereason magazine covers don't have fat broads is the same way people of the same ethnicity are going to put their own ethnicity first. Case in point thisguy saying he's not black being called a "self hating black person" he's doing exactly what you people say your all about but then he getshated on?

 

[liban906]

Originally Posted by MrBoss2You

All I'm going to say to the guys who replied there's only 1 race bro, the human race. Social classification is always going to be there, the same reason magazine covers don't have fat broads is the same way people of the same ethnicity are going to put their own ethnicity first. Case in point this guy saying he's not black being called a "self hating black person" he's doing exactly what you people say your all about but then he gets hated on?

ok you made a point and then negated it with that statement. it is correct people identify with their own ethnicities. its human nature to want to bearound people like yourself be it good or bad. historically in this country, a certain ethnic group has held the power and subsequently put minority groupsdown. there has to be something there that can get rid of this. we made great strides as a society when it comes to transcending race but we're notcompletly there yet and i guarentee if you get rid of A.A. we'll be right back to where we were. now if the way A.A. programs really works is not what i amsaying. if you say it needs reform, im not gonna argue with you but to say that it needs to be trashed completly is naive

 

[dirtylicious]

Originally Posted by MrBoss2You

Maybe 30-40 years ago it was needed, but in 2008..... NO!!

1963...45 yrs ago.....

I think at that point they were just trying for basic rights.

 

[thekingofva]

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

it's funny....when a little bit of that proverbial pie is taken away...NOW it's unfair...when throughout all of US history... the whole pie has belonged to ONE ethnicity.


A.A is a NECESSARY and ESSENTIAL avenue for equality.

I agree 100 percent

 

[gordon gartrelle]

I'm all for these initiatives and hope more states take it upon themselves to institute these initiatives as a way to bring about true equality foreveryone, not just the fragmented populations of society.