Connerly on Preferential Education

By Benjamin Patch and Benjamin Wallace-Wells | Wednesday, January 21, 1998

Editor's Note: Ward Connerly is chairman of American Civil Rights Institute (ACR), the Sacramento group that spearheaded the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) referendum drive. His organization is currently taking on similar initiatives in the state of Washington and around the country. He is arguably America's foremost critic of affirmative action.

The Dartmouth Review: Ideologically, do you think affirmative action was originally a good idea whose time has passed or do you think it was a fundamental misstep?

Ward Connerly: Affirmative action in its original form was well-intentioned — actively opening the doors of education and employment to all people, regardless of race or gender. However, over time, the programs and policies mutated into quotas, set asides, and preferences. Race and gender-based preferences are not focused on the disadvantaged. They are government programs which discriminate against people on the basis of the color of their skin or their gender. Despite our national commitment to end such offensive programs by enacting the 1964 Civil Rights Act, we now have special interest groups and politicians who ardently defend such discriminatory policies.

Review: Do you think the recent success of CCRI and other referenda like it has forced more American Blacks and Hispanics to reconsider their views on affirmative action?

Connerly: The passage of Prop. 209 (CCRI) and the University of California Regents decision in 1995 to end race-based admissions certainly brought the question of race and sex based preferences to the forefront. Five years ago no one talked of racial preferences, but they were there, corroding our nation's race relations. Now, the nation is acknowledging the existence of race preferences and debating the effects of those policies, including the effect on blacks and Latinos.

Review: How do you respond to critics, such as the contemporary Black leadership or The New York Times, who try to brand you as a modern 'Uncle Tom?'

Connerly: The people who resort to name calling are simply unable to successfully make an argument in favor of racial preferences and quotas. So they resort to personal attacks. When somebody calls me an Uncle Tom, I ask myself, 'What are they saying?' They're saying that I have abandoned my race. And then I ask, 'What is my race?' I'm just as ecumenical as anybody— a little Choctau Indian, Irish, French-Canadian and African descent.

Review: How did eliminating racial preferences in the University of California system affect minorities and campus climate?

Connerly: The Regents '92 decision was phased in. Admission rules for graduate programs were changed for the fall 1997 class and undergraduates programs will be affected for the fall 1998 class.

While there have been many press reports about the lack of black and Hispanic students applying for or accepting position at UC graduate schools, a recent report on graduate programs shows an increase in black and 'ethnicity unknown' students for the entire UC system. Black student enrollment in graduate academic programs increased by 5 percent (213 to 218) in fall 1997 from fall 1996. The number of students who chose not to report their ethnicity increased by 23 percent (393 to 491). I believe that the climate on campus has remained focused and collegiate for these students are here to learn, despite the inferences made by the media that diversity would end.

Review: If Dartmouth suddenly dropped its affirmative action policies, what would be the fallout?

Connerly: As US News and World Report recently reported, universities in both Texas and California where preferences have been removed, maintained or increased the numbers of blacks and Hispanics admitted to their schools. The key was to not to give a preference for or against someone on the basis of their race or ethnicity, but rather to consider the student as a whole.

Test scores, outside achievements or employment shows the type of person that would like to be admitted to that school.

Review: Does racism still exist on American college campuses? In America?

Connerly: I believe that individuals, but not American society at large, can be racist. Racists and racism certainly exist, but we are not a racist society.

In conjunction with that, when we look at our universities, what do we see? The multi-cultural center, the black dormitory, the Hispanic graduation program. We must stop segregating ourselves and start reaching out to one another. The same thing for America. When I go to my Rotary Club on Thursday, I can count on one hand the number of blacks or Latinos who are there. Where are they? Over at the black Chamber of Commerce or the Latino Chamber of Commerce? And then you are wrong to ask why they aren't assimilating into the Sacramento Rotary. Too many minorities and women isolate themselves and then complain that they're not part of the network. We must be Americans first and foremost.

Review: Is there any possibility that your organization can come to New Hampshire and organize a CCRI-type referendum?

Connerly: States all across America are mobilizing against preferences, and I am sure New Hampshire is no different. But it must be a local, grass roots effort. The American Civil Rights Coalition exists to help local and statewide groups that have identified racial and gender preferences in their state and want to work to eliminate them. In many states, state legislators are leading the effort to eliminate race-based quotas, set-asides and preferences. At the University level, board members and key administrative officials can provide the leadership needed to end race-based college admissions, college scholarships and school-sponsored activities, like graduations.

Connerly on Preferential Education

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