New Hamsphire Bars Racial Preferences

In a bit of surprising news, New Hampshire has barred the government from admitting, hiring, recruiting, and promoting based on race, sex, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. An excerpt from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

“Both chambers of the state’s legislature, which came to be dominated by conservative Republicans as a result of the 2010 elections, overwhelmingly passed the measure last spring. The measure went into law after Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, took no action on it.

“In sharp contrast to other states that have experienced highly publicized battles over similar bills or ballot initiatives, New Hampshire passed its measure with little input from national advocacy groups on either side of the affirmative-action debate.
…
Ward Connerly, who has helped lead campaigns on behalf of voter-passed bans on affirmative-action preferences in several states, on Tuesday said he and the advocacy group he founded, the American Civil Rights Institute, deliberately stayed out of the debate over the New Hampshire bill to avoid drawing national attention to it.

‘When we found out that it was alive,’ he said, ‘we decided to keep a low profile, because the moment I surface it seems to draw out all of the national crowd.’”