READER COMMEN TS
; Racism is a cultural, institutional, generational dynamic that was here
before affirmative action and will be here after affirmative programs are gone
or changed. Until the above dynamics about race in this country are changed,
there will always be a need for affirmative action to level the playing field.
DiversityInc.com comment
FROM LEFT: Ward Connerly President,
American Civil Rights Institute; Luke
Visconti CEO, DiversityInc; Dr. Ella Bell
Professor, Tuck School of Business,
Dartmouth College, and Founder, ASCENT;
Weldon H. Latham Senior Partner, Jackson
Lewis; Lora Fong Corporate Counsel,
Salesforce.com; Gilbert Casellas Former
Head of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
NOT A PERFECT WORLD
; Ward Connerly states that “I’ve
always believed that if everyone
had an equal chance to compete
and if we believe that we’re all created equally by the good Lord, then
diversity will be the outcome.” But
we don’t live in a perfect world
where everyone has an equal
chance to compete, and we can’t
ensure fairness by merely doing
nothing. Human beings tend to
make subjective decisions, and we
can’t rely on all people doing the
right thing. In that case, we wouldn’t
need any government laws or policies, including affirmative action.
DiversityInc.com comment
; I find it interesting that the
memory of Connerly is so short.
He has forgotten that the
Constitution was supposed to
afford all Americans equal treat-
ment, yet the government let the
people that oppose equal rights
thrive for a couple hundred years.
So now he says the same govern-
ment will do what is right without
the use of law! Please allow me the
opportunity to have free labor for
200 years and deny those workers
education and related rights so I
can become rich enough to say “I’m
sorry, and let’s not make any laws so
those folks we got so wealthy off of
can catch up.” What is wrong with
that picture? Robert Branscomb
; Connerly’s words sound like
those of a beauty-pageant contestant: “My goal is to end all wars and
world hunger.” Who would possibly be against such a utopic idea?
The real world makes this lofty
idealistic mantra sound naive,
uninformed and without compassion for those who are the objects
of oppression, suffering from
current acts of discrimination.
Connerly also perpetuates “The
BIG LIE”—that affirmative action
is synonymous with “preferential
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