Affirmative action--this guy has it right

[Tonio]

http://www.freep.com/news/mich/conn5_20040505.htm

Connerly reached his hook -- the 1964 Civil Rights Act, his bible in the battle to end affirmative action. "Before the ink was dry, we changed course" from civil to racial equality, said Connerly. "Before very long, we established goals and timetables. Very soon, affirmative action became preferences...We arrived at a point in this country where civil rights had no meaning. Affirmative action became a perversion..."

Connerly said he wants black people to hear this message: stop taking the scraps of affirmative action "off the masters' table"..."They are the ones who are shuffling around saying 'give me.' Nobody gives you anything. You earn it."

What unnerved him was the reaction of white Californians who supported his effort (to overturn affirmative action) and who sought him out to thank him for "helping us"...He realized many of the people thanking him weren't motivated by the principle of equal treatment.

That's why Connerly thinks he needs to write a book that helps white Americans better understand black Americans. "I'm going to tell them to walk in the shoes of black people," said Connerly. "Tell them why it's so difficult for black people to let go of affirmative action. It's not just about getting those black people to do what everyone else thinks they ought to do." This is the same Ward Connerly, now 69, who has been telling black Americans to embrace competition and pull themselves up by those old bootstraps even if the playing field is bumpy.