Comments on: Ward Connerly: Election Validates Faith in Americans’ Fairness http://www.acri.org/blog/2008/11/18/ward-connerly-election-validates-faith-in-americans-fairness/ "Race has no place in American Life or Law" Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:37:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Sylvia Wasson http://www.acri.org/blog/2008/11/18/ward-connerly-election-validates-faith-in-americans-fairness/comment-page-1/#comment-193 Sylvia Wasson Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:27:51 +0000 http://www.acri.org/blog/?p=421#comment-193 It has long been the position of fair-minded Americans that race and ethnicity should NOT determine an individual's opportunity for advancement. This fairness accounts for the success of colorblind ballot initiatives in four out of five states where such referenda were put to a vote. This egalitarian spirit of the citizenry was further confirmed by the election of a multi-racial candidate, Barack Obama, to the highest office of the land, if not the world. The latter should signal the end of race preferences in college admissions and public employment. It should signal that the "bad check" once given to blacks in this country, and held up to the conscience of the nation in Martin Luther King's Dream Speech, has been cashed. But does it? As long as the absurd notion that race preferences bring about equal opportunity holds sway in public employment, King's dream has not been fulfilled. As long as those who work for race-neutral, genuine equality can be silenced, intimidated and punished, the "bad check" is issued again and again. Whether Barack Obama will have the courage to say that granting preferences on the basis of color equals discrimination, and that neither "diversity" nor "reparations for past wrongs" justify government-sanctioned inequality, remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether this new president will understand that race preferences are demeaning and damaging to the very individuals whom they purport to help. Like Mr. Connerly, and so many fair-minded Americans, I am optimistic. Yet I am also prepared to continue the struggle for a colorblind and genuinely just America. It has long been the position of fair-minded Americans that race and ethnicity should NOT determine an individual’s opportunity for advancement. This fairness accounts for the success of colorblind ballot initiatives in four out of five states where such referenda were put to a vote. This egalitarian spirit of the citizenry was further confirmed by the election of a multi-racial candidate, Barack Obama, to the highest office of the land, if not the world. The latter should signal the end of race preferences in college admissions and public employment. It should signal that the “bad check” once given to blacks in this country, and held up to the conscience of the nation in Martin Luther King’s Dream Speech, has been cashed. But does it?

As long as the absurd notion that race preferences bring about equal opportunity holds sway in public employment, King’s dream has not been fulfilled. As long as those who work for race-neutral, genuine equality can be silenced, intimidated and punished, the “bad check” is issued again and again.

Whether Barack Obama will have the courage to say that granting preferences on the basis of color equals discrimination, and that neither “diversity” nor “reparations for past wrongs” justify government-sanctioned inequality, remains to be seen. It also remains to be seen whether this new president will understand that race preferences are demeaning and damaging to the very individuals whom they purport to help.

Like Mr. Connerly, and so many fair-minded Americans, I am optimistic. Yet I am also prepared to continue the struggle for a colorblind and genuinely just America.

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