Posted on 04/11/2002 11:35:31 PM PDT by kattracks
I applaud the bold anti-discrimination actions underway in California. Thousands of Californians are demonstrating their belief in our basic rights by signing petitions to place the Racial Privacy Initiative (RPI) on the November ballot. The groundswell of support generated by this voter initiative once again confirms President Ronald Reagan's belief that the American people are the true leaders of this great nation.
Throughout history, race classifications have wreaked havoc on American society. From the slave trade to the Holocaust and beyond, classifications have artificially divided us. No one chooses the color of his or her skin, gender, or any of several other categories used to place boundaries between Americans. For decades, this nation has sought to end discrimination, yet taken steps that instead highlight our differences.
During the past 30 years, the number of race classifications has increased 12-fold from five to 63, and to 126 if ethnicity is included. Why? Because programs intended to eliminate discrimination have created a spoils system from which interest groups seek advantage.
Today's laws have so twisted the concept of equality that they place at risk the very principles upon which America nation was founded. Consider the following: present day preference programs at universities shut out students with higher academic achievement in favor of persons of a particular skin color; contracts are awarded at higher costs to taxpayers due to the requirement to set aside a portion of government business to certain groups; teachers receive raises solely based on race or gender; non-white military officers have arbitrary advantage for promotion; and veterans are denied government employment because they have the wrong skin color.
Examples such as these are prevalent throughout our nation and indicate that we've not upheld the basic principles outlined by our founding fathers, and advanced by civil rights giants such as Martin Luther King, Jr., who constantly urged Americans to "live out the true meaning of your creed" to treat people on the basis of the content of their character, which is merit, and not skin color.
Our nation was warned early and often about the danger of making distinctions along racial lines. In 1948, when speaking on behalf of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in _Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma_, Thurgood Marshall noted that "classification and distinctions based on race or color have no moral or legal validity in our society. They are contrary to our Constitution and laws." As the NAACP's legal counsel in 1954, Marshall noted that "distinctions by race are so evil, so arbitrary and insidious that a state bound to defend the equal protection of the laws must not allow them in any public sphere.
As evidenced by the examples noted above and the fact that fully half of the government's questions on the 2000 census were about race, ethnicity, and national origin, we failed to heed Marshall's warnings. Our journey down the slippery slope of classifications has created a nation in which a primary consideration for academic enrollment, government contracts, promotions, and employment is arbitrary discriminators such as skin color, gender, and ethnic background.
Dividing our nation through classifications ignores one of the foundations that is largely responsible for America's success, namely, that America is a meritocracy in which equality affords us the opportunity to choose our own paths and to achieve as much or as little as we care to. Most Americans believe that all of us are created equal and that success is ensured by discipline, hard work, aspiration, and belief in the individual. Rather than artificially dividing us and establishing dependency programs that encourage mediocrity and dilute our competitive spirit, it's time to focus on that which unites us: namely, that each of us is a unique member of the American family, not faceless members of some hyphenated group.
Both the language of RPI and the reasons for supporting it are simple. RPI says "the state shall not classify any individual by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin in the operation of public education, public contracting, or public employment." The reasons for supporting RPI are as plain as its language: privacy is a civil right in the United States, and race classifications artificially divide our nation. It's time for government to recognize this in the same manner as the citizens of California and to get out of the business of classifying its citizens.
My first-hand experience with government-sponsored discrimination laid bare the effects of classifying our citizens. As a result, I've long been driven to support all efforts aimed at restoring the basic principle of equal rights for every citizen, regardless of race or color. This principle is the centerpiece of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and it is the law as expressed in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, Californians who haven't already signed a RPI petition have an opportunity to take a stand for what's right; in November, all Californians will have an opportunity to lead our nation on this issue. If you've not already done so, I encourage you to exercise your right to be heard. Use your American right to shape our future by eliminating processes that divide us.
Valery Pech and her husband were the plaintiffs in the successful Adarand case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. As a political activist in Colorado, she helped lead a 12-year campaign to eliminate government-sponsored discrimination. Additional information on California's Racial Privacy Initiative is available at www.acrc1.org, or by contacting the American Civil Rights Coalition at 916-444-2278.
Ward Connerly is founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a TownHall.com member group.
Contact Ward Connerly | Read his biography
©2002 American Civil Rights Institute
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They'll go to addresses and interviews to find the "systemically disadvantaged." All females named Giselle Brown wearing a stud in their tongue are in for sure.
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