NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Ward Connerly

Wardell Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is a former University of California Regent, political activist, and businessman. He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national non-profit organization in opposition to racial and gender preferences. [1]. He is considered to be the man behind the controversial California's Proposition 209 outlawing race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions, widely known as affirmative action. His twelve-year tenure on the Board of Regents ended on March 1, 2005. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ... The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. ... A controversy is a contentious dispute, a disagreement over which parties are actively arguing. ... Affirmative action is a policy or a program of taking steps [1] to increase the representation of certain designated groups allegedly seeking to redress discrimination or bias through active measures, as in education and employment. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Early life

Wardell Anthony Connerly was born June 15, 1939, in Leesville, Louisiana. Connerly has stated he is one-fourth black, with the rest a mix of Irish, French, and Choctaw. His father, Roy Connerly, left the household when Ward was 2, and his mother died when Ward was 4. The young Connerly went to live first with an aunt and uncle and then a grandmother. He attended Sacramento State College, eventually receiving a bachelor of arts with honors in political science in 1962. While in college, Connerly was student body president and actively involved with Delta Phi Omega, later becoming an honorary member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. During his college years, Connerly was active in campaigning against housing discrimination and helped to get a bill passed by the state legislature banning the practice. After college, he worked for a number of state agencies and Assembly committees, including the Sacramento re-development agency, the state department of housing and urban development, and State Assembly committee on urban affairs. It was during the late 1960s that he became friends with then-legislator Pete Wilson, who would later become governor in 1991. At the suggestion of Wilson, in 1973 he stepped away from his government job and started his own consultation and land-use planning company. In 1993 he was appointed to the University of California board of regents. Connerly is married to Ilene Connerly who is his equal partner in the firm of Connerly & Associates and they have two children. The small city of Leesville is the parish seat of Vernon Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ... For other uses, see Choctaw (disambiguation). ... California State University, Sacramento, also known as Sacramento State, or Sac State, is a public university located in the city of Sacramento, California, USA. It is part of the California State University system. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... The 1960s Ashley Rocks! decadeHI refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. ... Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis with President George W. Bush (2003) Seal of the Governor of California (without the Roman numerals designating the governors sequence) See also: List of pre-statehood governors of California, List of Governors of California The Governor of California is the highest executive authority... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Connerly is a member of the Rotary Club of Sacramento, California, and has been inducted as a lifetime member into the California Building Industry Hall of Fame. Logo of Rotary International Rotary International is an organisation whose members comprise Rotary Clubs (service clubs) located all over the world. ... Nickname: City of Trees Location of Sacramento in California County Sacramento - Mayor Heather Fargo Area - City 99. ...

Support of political campaigns against affirmative action

After his appointment to the University of California board of regents in 1993, Connerly began to expound his views on affirmative action. In 1994, after listening to Jerry and Ellan Cook, whose son had been rejected at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, Connerly became convinced that affirmative action, as practiced in the University of California, was tantamount to racial discrimination. Jerry Cook, a statistician, presented data showing that whites and Asians were being systematically denied admission despite having better grades and test scores than other students who were being admitted. This was never denied by the administrators of the UC system, and lead Connerly to propose abolishing these controversial programs, though his proposal would still allow consideration of social or economic factors. The regents passed the proposal in January, 1996 despite protests from activist Jesse Jackson and other supporters of affirmative action. Some believe that the UC system had been discriminating against Asian applicants, in light of the fact that the year after affirmative action was abolished, their numbers showed a dramatic increase. UC regents countered by developing new ways to assist historically disadvantaged students, including essay requirements that served to reveal the applicant's race and ethnicity. Affirmative action is a policy or a program of taking steps [1] to increase the representation of certain designated groups allegedly seeking to redress discrimination or bias through active measures, as in education and employment. ... UCSF in 1908, with the streetcar that used to run on Parnassus Avenue The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is one of the worlds leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. ... An African-American drinks out of a water fountain marked for colored in 1939 at a street car terminal in Oklahoma City. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Jesse Louis Jackson (born October 8, 1941) is an American politician, civil rights activist, and Baptist minister. ...

In 1994, a movement started by a group of academics had begun with the intent to get a ballot measure passed banning these types of programs in admissions and hiring by any state public employer, school, or contractor. Connerly had been hesitant to join the movement because he claimed he was afraid of reprisals against his family and business but eventually by the end of 1995 became the chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative Campaign ^[2] and helped get the initiative on the California ballot as Proposition 209. It passed by a 54% majority, despite attempts to defeat it from groups such as the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller foundations, the ACLU, and the California Teacher's Association. Connerly, in 1997, formed the American Civil Rights Institute to take their cause nationwide. Connerly first decided to support a similar ballot measure in Washington which would later pass by 58%. After Washington, he would turn his efforts to Florida in order to get a measure on the ballot in the 2000 Florida election. The Florida Supreme Court (that would later that year be overturned by the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore) put restrictions on the petition language, and Governor Jeb Bush later implemented, through a program called "One Florida," key portions of Connerly's proposal, helping to keep it off the ballot by accomplishing some of its key objectives through legislation. During this time, Connerly also became a supporter of an initiative to provide health benefits for domestic partners employed by the UC system which was barely passed by the regents. Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... Proposition 209, a voter referendum passed in 1996, outlaws discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. ...

In 2003, Connerly returned to the political spotlight in California, pushing a ballot measure he helped place on the ballot that would prohibit the state government from classifying any person by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin, with some exception. Critics were concerned that such a measure would make it difficult to track housing discrimination and racial profiling activities. The measure was also criticized by newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, that claimed it would hamper legitimate medical and scientific purposes. In the end, Connerly's poorly-funded campaign lost. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ... The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California and distributed throughout the Western United States. ...

Following the 2003 Supreme Court rulings in Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, Connerly was invited to Michigan by Jennifer Gratz to support a measure similar to the 1996 California amendment. The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative MCRI appeared on the November 2006 Michigan ballot and passed. Holding A state universitys admission policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because its ranking system gave an automatic point increase to all racial minorities rather than making individual determinations. ... {{SCOTUSCase |Litigants=Grutter v. ...

Political views

Ward Connerly sees himself as a Republican with a libertarian philosophy. Despite his close political relationship with former California Governor Pete Wilson and their agreement on the question of Affirmative Action, he spearheaded efforts to grant domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian couples in all state universities against Wilson's objection. He says his views on gay rights stem from his libertarian viewpoint that governments, including government-run universities, should not discriminate, whether it's favoring some students because of their race, or limiting spousal benefits to others based on their sexual orientation. The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party, although one early citation described it as the Gallant Old Party) [1], is one of the two major political parties in the United States. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. ...

Further, Connerly's support for domestic partner benefits earned him the ire of the conservative advocacy groups Family Research Council and Traditional Values Coalition.[3]. Robert Knight, Director of Cultural Studies at the Family Research Council, had this to say regarding Connerly, "no true conservative would equate homosexual households with marriages, because we believe that without marriage and family as paramount values, hell will break loose."

Controversy

On May 8, 1995, two years after he went public with his anti-affirmative action views, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Connerly had taken advantage of a minority preference program on multiple occasions in the 1990's. The article was based on the paper's review of the records of California's State Energy Commission which showed that Connerly had listed his firm, Connerly & Associates, as a minority-owned firm, and that Connerly's firm received more than $1 million in state government contracts. The article included excerpts of an interview with Connerly in which he admitted that he only participated in the minority preference program to comply with state law [4].

As Connerly pointed out in a story published by the Associated Press on May 9, 1995, due to the state's requirement that 15 percent of state contracts be given to minority-owned firms, he would have been placed in the position of having "to find a minority to turn over 15 percent of a contract which has an 8 percent profit at best." [5]

July 9, 1997, Connerly's advocacy organization, the American Civil Rights Institute, expressed disappointment with the federal government's decision to reject the addition of a multiracial category on the Census and other government forms that collect racial data [6]. This press release was the beginning of Connerly's alliance with prominent members of what has become known as the multiracial movement. Prior to spearheading the Racial Privacy Initiative in California, Connerly forged ties with the publishers of Interracial Voice and The Multiracial Activist, prominent publications for the multiracial movement. Eventually, Connerly enlisted the help of several outspoken members of the multiracial movement to assist with the execution of the Racial Privacy Initiative. An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ...

Connerly's opposition to affirmative action has generated controversy. Connerly believes affirmative action is a form of racism and that people can achieve success without preferential treatment in college enrollment or in employment. His critics contend that he fails to recognize the problems resulting from past racism, and that he fails to recognize that affirmative action programs can overcome the residual effects of past discrimination on people of minorities^{[citation needed]}.

The Detroit-based pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) claims that Connerly, as CEO of Connerly & Associates, Inc., his Sacramento based real estate corporation, has benefitted financially from affirmative action programs in contracting, a claim that is supported by the May 8, 1995 article in the San Francisco Chronicle (discussed above). What BAMN has failed to disclose is that the State of California required state agencies to award 15 percent of all contracts to minority classified firms [7]. Minority owned firms that were not classified as such were not eligible for the set-asides. This created a perverse incentive for organizations to register their ownership by race, in order to compete with similarly owned firms. State agencies may have been reluctant to do business with minority-owned firms that were not registered as such, since they would not get full credit for those contracts. Some claim this created a form of state-sanctioned discrimination against non-registered minority-owned firms. While BAMN's charge is accurate, proper context and background are absent. By Any Means Necessary or BAMN is a left-wing civil rights activist group active in Michigan and California. ...

BAMN also claims that as a spokesman for the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) and the American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC), Connerly earned as much as $400,000, by which BAMN questions Connerly's true motives. BAMN seeks a repeal of Proposition 209 and a return to affirmative action programs, especially in campus admissions. BAMN has recently opposed Connerly's efforts to put the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI)on the 2006 Michigan Ballot, and recently disrupted a Michigan Board of Canvassers meeting by loudly protesting and overturning a table [8]. Proposition 209, a voter referendum passed in 1996, outlaws discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. ...

Connerly's multiracial identity and views on affirmative action have led to him being labeled a "self-hating black" by some of his critics. In 1995, former State Senator Diane Watson said about him, "He's married to a white woman. He wants to be white. He wants a colorless society. He has no ethnic pride. He doesn't want to be black."^[1]^[2] Uncle Tom is a pejorative for an African American who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation. ... Diane Edith Watson (born November 12, 1933), American politician, has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 2001, representing the 33rd District of California (map). ...

Connerly has also been accused of hypocrisy for supporting domestic partner benefits for gay couples while opposing affirmative action. Connerly's supporters point out that this is not contradictory: he opposes discrimination, whether it is against gays, or any racial, religious, or ethnic group. In this regard, Connerly disparages the term "reverse" discrimination. To Connerly and supporters, racial discrimination is indistinguishable, regardless of which racial or ethnic group is the target^{[citation needed]}.

Another controversy arose after publication of Connerly's autobiography. Relatives have claimed his accounts of an impoverished childhood were exaggerated or simply false. Connerly's aunt claims his account is accurate. Pooley claims that relatives who contradicted Connerly’s anecdotes about his poor childhood are lying because they disagree with his politics.^{[citation needed]}

Connerly has made controversial remarks regarding racial segregation on several occasions including the following: The Rex Theatre for Colored People Racial segregation is characterized by separation of different races in daily life when both are doing equal tasks, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or...

On a CNN interview in December 2002 he said "Supporting segregation need not be racist. One can believe in segregation and believe in equality of the races," in response to a question regarding former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... 1. ... Chester Trent Lott, Sr. ...

He told the San Francisco Chronicle in September of 2003 "I don't care whether they are segregated or not . . . kids need to be learning, and I place more value on these kids getting educated than I do on whether we have some racial balancing or not." regarding whether his Proposition 54 could derail school integration efforts in California public schools[9]. Todays San Francisco Chronicle was founded in 1865 as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. ...

Firelight Media interviewed Connerly for their documentary video "Arise: The Battle Over Affirmative Action" in which he comments; "If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, God bless them," Connerly says. "Thank them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are being applied, instead of hate."

Connerly issued a written statement clarifying his earlier remarks regarding a favorable tone towards the Ku Klux Klan's support for his Michigan campaign to outlaw affirmative action quotas and set-asides. Connerly's statement read, "Throughout my life I have made absolutely clear my disdain for the KKK. However, like all Americans, I hope that this group will move beyond its ugly history and agree that equality before the law is the ideal. If they or any group accepts equality for all people, I will be the first to welcome them."[10]

External links

The libertarian Reason Magazine dedicated an issue to Ayn Rands influence one hundred years after her birth. ...

References

Categories: Articles lacking sources from June 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles which may be biased | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1939 births | Living people | California politicians | Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers | African Americans | Louisiana Creoles | History of affirmative action in the United States Affirmative action is a policy or a program of giving preferential treatment to certain designated groups allegedly seeking to redress discrimination or bias through active measures, as in education and employment. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the United... Holding Segregation of students in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, because separate facilities are inherently unequal. ... Holding The Court held that while affirmative action systems are constitutional, a quota system based on race is unconstitutional. ... Holding A state universitys admission policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because its ranking system gave an automatic point increase to all racial minorities rather than making individual determinations. ... {{SCOTUSCase |Litigants=Grutter v. ... An Act of Vaginapenis is a bill or resolution adopted by both houses of the United States Congress to which one of the following events has happened: Acceptance by the President of the United States, Inaction by the President after ten days from reception (excluding Sundays) while the Congress is... The presidential seal was used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ... The words inscribed above the entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court are: Equal justice under law The Equal Protection Clause, part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, provides that no state shallâ€¦ deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. ... Amendment XIV in the National Archives The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Amendment XIV) is one of the post-Civil War amendments, and it includes the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses among others. ... Executive Order 10925 was signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961 to establishes the Presidents Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. ... President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . ... Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965 required Equal Employment Opportunity. ... In political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizens initiative) provides a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote on a proposed statute, constitutional amendment, charter amendment or ordinance. ... Proposition 209 was a 1996 California ballot proposition which amended the state Constitution to prohibit public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... Initiative 200 was a Washington State initiative that sought to prohibit public institutions from discriminating on the basis of race or sex. ... Official language(s) None Capital Olympia Largest city Seattle Area Ranked 18th - Total 71,342 sq mi (184,827 kmÂ²) - Width 240 miles (385 km) - Length 360 miles (580 km) - % water 6. ... The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2 (Michigan 06-2), was a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Michigan that passed into Michigan Constitutional law by a 58% to 42% margin on November 7, 2006, according to results officially certified by the Michigan Secretary of State. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area Ranked 11th - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 kmÂ²) - Width 239 miles (385 km) - Length 491 miles (790 km) - % water 41. ... Arthur Fletcher (1924â€“July 12, 2005) was an American government official, widely referred to as the father of affirmative action. ...

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