Free Republic

Arizonans will decide next year if they want to outlaw affirmative action programs and any special programs or preferences for women and minorities. the Senate gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit preferential treatment or discrimination by government on the basis of race, sex or ethnic origin. The measure, which already has been approved by the House, now goes on the 2010 ballot. It will be the first time Arizonans get to vote on the issue. A similar initiative drive in 2008 failed when backers did not get enough signatures. But Californian Ward Connerly, who helped craft...

Anti-affirmative action advocate Ward Connerly and a Sacramento-based legal foundation today blasted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama's administration for a recently-enacted California Department of Transportation policy that awards contracts based on a race- and gender-based quota system. The Pacific Legal Foundation, an individual rights and limited government watchdog group, said that it is filing a lawsuit today against Caltrans on behalf of Associated General Contractors of America to reverse the department's mandate that 6.75 percent of contracts receiving federal money go to women, African Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans and Native Americans. The foundation says that the policy violates federal...

I love Ward Connerly. Simple as that. Were he running for office on any party ticket, it would take some strong competition to tear my vote away. I'd even smile at a Ward Connerly/Bill "Fat Albert" Cosby ticket. Connerly is a powerhouse dedicated to tearing down the mentality of inequality in America that masquerades as "equality" under affirmative action. After successfully passing California's Prop 209, Connerly founded The American Civil Rights Institute together with President of National Review, Dusty Rhodes, back in 1996. The Institude was designed to educate the public on the harms of racial and gender preferences... calling...

The issue that troubled many Americans about the widely publicized sermons of Rev. Jeremiah Wright was his view that America is an "institutionally racist" society. This view lies at the heart of the defense advocates of race preferences make for "affirmative action." It is also at the core of Black Liberation Theology. By supporting race preferences, Mr. Obama is unmistakably attaching himself to despicable ideas like Rev. Wright's. Mr. Connerly is chairman of the American Civil Rights Coalition and author of "Creating Equal" (Encounter, 2000).

A California group is running a radio ad that uses Barack Obama’s former minister and Nebraska’s only black state senator to take aim at affirmative action in the state. The ad, which includes a clip of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright saying “God damn America,’’ says Wright and Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers believe in race preferences, but most Nebraskans don’t... The American Civil Rights Initiative, which is sponsoring the ad, is pushing measures in several states, including Nebraska, that oppose affirmative action, which the group says gives preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. The...

Ward Connerly's critics often blame the success of the millionaire businessman's anti-affirmative-action campaign on some dubious political sleight of hand. Now they'd like to make the former UC regent's controversial initiative disappear before it reaches the ballot in five states. Connerly's measure won handily in his home state of California and in Washington and Michigan, affecting race- or gender-based programs in public employment, education and contracting. Connerly spearheaded California's Proposition 209 in 1996, which amended the state constitution to outlaw race and gender-based preferences in state hiring and state university admissions. His twelve-year tenure on the Board of Regents ended...

The University of Michigan announced Wednesday it will comply with a new voter-approved ban on affirmative action and immediately stop considering race and gender in admissions. ADVERTISEMENT The move came in the middle of the admissions process for next fall's freshman class. The university has already begun sending out acceptance and rejection letters. The state constitutional amendment approved by the voters in November bans the use of race and gender preferences in public university admissions and government hiring and contracting. After it passed, the university put its admission process on hold and asked the courts that it be given until...

Did anyone just see this? Why would they even put her on? She said 'everyone knows it is the President's responsiblity - even Hollywood knows... I could just spit.

Liberals have been beating their collective breast in recent years over the Bush administration's post-9/11 assault on civil liberties. But Michigan Democrats-- from Gov. Jennifer Granholm to the State Board of Canvassers-- have joined ranks with a radical, 1960s-style Trotskyite group to deny state residents the most basic of all rights: the right to vote. The group, which... calls itself By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), has been engaged in a long guerilla campaign to prevent the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) from getting on the state ballot. This initiative, backed by Ward Connerly, ...seeks to end, once and for all,...

California lawmakers improperly and unconstitutionally adopted legislation two years ago that violated the state's ban on race-based preferences, a Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled Thursday. Ward Connerly called the ruling by Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Cecil another "nail in the coffin of preferences" based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. Connerly had argued in the suit that Assembly Bill 703, signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis, was an "end run" around Proposition 209, a 1996 initiative banning preferences in state hiring, contracting and education. "This is a happy day for me, personally, and for all of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A 2003 law intended to help minorities win government contracts and employment was struck down Thursday by a superior court judge because it conflicts with Proposition 209, which bans consideration of race and gender in public employment, education and contracting. Sacramento County Judge Thomas Cecil issued the ruling after Ward Connerly, the author of Proposition 209, filed suit shortly after the bill was signed into law by former Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. The law, AB 703, was intended to allow government agencies authority to only perform outreach in order to help minority or women-owned business gain...

Connerly to step down as Regent Influential figure will pursue goal to end affirmative action WALNUT CREEK - Ward Connerly, the outspoken affirmative-action opponent who led the drive to end preferential college admissions in California, will not seek a second 12-year term as a University of California regent. Connerly, 65, said he plans to step down from the governor-appointed UC board when his term ends March 1. He will attend his final board meeting next month. A spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will appoint Connerly's replacement, declined to say whether Schwarzenegger had told Connerly that he would not be...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The end-of-session rush will hit the California Legislature this week as lawmakers try to finish work on hundreds of bills before the end of the month. The deadline to pass most bills is Aug. 31, and both houses have floor sessions scheduled every day through Friday. Among the measures that could be voted on this week are bills that would: - Ban smoking on state beaches unless the local government with jurisdiction over the beach wanted to allow it. - Allow pharmacies to sell hypodermic needles without a doctor's prescription, a step supporters say would help stem...

The most hated man on America's college campuses is George W. Bush. On many campuses, Ward Connerly ranks a close second. Connerly, who is black, is founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute. In March 1993, he was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson to the University of California Board of Regents for a 12-year term. He chaired the Proposition 209 campaign in California; the proposition, which banned the use of race in government employment, education and contracting, passed by an overwhelming majority in November 1996. He designed Proposition 54, the Racial Privacy Initiative, which would have banned the state...

“Light” as in light weight Joe Guzzardi October 20, 2003 California’s most tarnished politician is Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. He is the only man in the state more discredited than Gray Davis. Having run an inept, lifeless campaign Bustamante not only failed to win over prospective voters, he instead made a long list of new enemies. To understand the totality of Bustamante’s failure, read the column by Steve Sailer on the webzine VDARE. Com. Political analysts agree that Bustamante is terminally damaged goods. According to Tony Quinn, “It's almost impossible two months ago to have thought of any way that...

In July 2002, the California secretary of state certified that enough signatures had been submitted to qualify the "Racial Privacy Initiative" (RPI) — an initiative to ban government classification based on race and skin color — for the ballot in the next statewide California election. Little did anyone know at the time that the next statewide election in California would be a special election in October 2003 to recall Governor Gray Davis. According to California's election code, any ballot initiative that has qualified for the ballot is automatically rolled over to the next statewide election, a fact that doomed RPI.A...

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.—Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Proposition 54 campaign, today denounced Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante’s graceless, shameful attempt to demonize Proposition 54 and its supporters in a concession speech Bustamante gave on October 7. Bustamante, who lost decisively in his bid to become California’s next governor, bitterly mischaracterized the initiative that was written to be a first, measured step towards a “color-blind” government and society as a racist plot, even though he claims to want a color-blind society himself.“Proposition 54 was bad for health care, public safety and education,” Bustamante said, despite Prop 54’s blanket exemption for all...

To You,I thank you for your help and support, your distribution and authorings of materials, your YES Vote in support of California's Proposition 54! As I'm sure you are aware -- Proposition 54 did not win; but certainly NOT for lack of heroes in all aspects of public and private life doing all within their power to assert "these truths" and against one of the most well-funded Political-Smear campaigns in California History. Compared to 54's approx $200K in funding -- opposition to 54 'acquired' approx $10 million to fight Prop 54. As far as the percentages in results went and...

<p>Proposition 54, a constitutional amendment proposed by UC Regent Ward Connerly to ban most state agencies from collecting racial and ethnic data died Tuesday night after opponents successfully focused the attention on its possible effects on health care.</p> <p>Connerly proposed the initiative, he said, because the practice of classifying people by race is antiquated and divisive.</p>

<p>If Proposition 54 fails in today's election, the author and leading proponent of the initiative said he will make another go at banning the state from collecting racial and ethnic data after cleaning up "flawed" and confusing language in the measure.</p>

<p>Ward Connerly, leader of the Proposition 54 campaign, charged this week that big money flowing into opponents' coffers is a thinly veiled attempt to influence the gubernatorial recall.</p> <p>"It's all about the governor's race," Connerly said. "This is clearly about getting out the minority vote, getting those communities revved up."</p>

Ward Connerly knows he's losing.For the first time since the University of California regent became the national crusader against racial preferences -- and the icon for contradictions in American race politics -- polls show his latest attempt at a colorblind society, Proposition 54, will probably go down Oct. 7.Connerly, 64, also knows his critics will spin the demise of his measure, which would ban the state from collecting racial and ethnic data, as a sign his influence is weakening.But to Connerly, it's not about wins or losses, rather the fight for what he calls true equality. Nothing from the opposition...

There has been not a little controversy about an unguarded remark by Arnold Schwarzenegger, to the effect that some supporters of California's Proposition #54, the Racial Privacy Initiative, are "right wing crazies." Schwarzenegger's comment was first reported in The National Review, not generally known as a left wing publication... Schwarzenegger was questioned about Prop 54, the Ward Connerly-spearheaded measure that would make it illegal for governmental agencies to collect racial statistics on the population, with some prudent exceptions. This is the Racial Privacy Initiative. Schwarzenegger said, "I'm against it. It looks good on the surface, but when you study it...

California State Senate, Senator Ross Johnson, Thirty-Fifth Senatorial DistrictSACRAMENTO - A Sacramento Superior Court Judge, who on Monday ruled that gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante had accepted $3.8 million in illegal contributions, today ordered Bustamante to seek cancellation of media buys made with the illegally raised funds.The Judge had ordered the funds returned but Bustamante refused, claiming the money had been spent.“Apparently Mr. Bustamante pre-paid for television advertising through the election, but he has the ability to cancel that television time and receive refunds from the stations and then give the money back to his special interest contributors as ordered,” stressed...

Dear Friend,Who do Cruz Bustamante and the opponents of Proposition 54 think they are kidding?Do they think we are all idiots and will believe their lies that Proposition 54 will affect anyone’s health?All you have to do is read clause (f) of Proposition 54. It states: “Otherwise lawful classification of medical research subjects and patients shall be exempt from this section.”Last time I checked, cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and heart disease were all medical subjects.What is really behind this ridiculous opposition to Proposition 54 is an opposition to basic fairness. Those who want to defeat Proposition 54 still want to give...

Next month's state ballot measure to prohibit the government's collection of race-based data -- which opponents claim would be detrimental to minorities -- shows surprisingly strong support from Latinos, Asian-Americans and blacks, according to a multi-ethnic poll released Thursday. Results of the multilingual survey suggest that the message of opponents has not gotten out to the growing non-white electorate, a group that anti-Proposition 54 forces expected would naturally reject the measure.

PROP 54 CAMPAIGN CHAIR WARD CONNERLY APPLAUDSSACRAMENTO, CALIF.--Thanks to state Senator Ross Johnson’s bold leadership, a ruling by a Sacramento County Superior Court judge today found Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante in violation of the Political Reform Act. Senator Johnson filed a lawsuit asserting that Bustamante was violating state campaign finance laws when the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) failed to assert its authority to enforce the law. Senator Johnson was vindicated today, as the Court found Bustamante guilty of the most blatant violation of the Political Reform Act in California history. Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Proposition 54...

<p>The thought does not escape me that over the past decade or so I have been a pain in the rear to many liberals and, on occasion, to a few conservatives as well, all because I believe the American people should consider themselves one extended human family, undivided by "race," color, ethnicity, national ancestry, gender or sexual orientation.</p>

<p>Ward Connerly filed suit against state officials Tuesday, claiming a newly signed law violates California's constitutional ban on race-based preferences.</p> <p>Connerly contends that AB 703 is an "end run" around Proposition 209, passed by voters in 1996 to prohibit preferences in state hiring, contracting and education.</p>

[Me]?  this just in.  You still in the mood for posting at fr?  If not, not to worry. Best, [Her] Yes, Ma'am. Now sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Justin Jones Thursday, September 11, 2003 916-444-2278 or jj@racialprivacy.org FORMER GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BILL SIMON JOINS WARD CONNERLY TO ENDORSE PROP 54 SACRAMENTO, CALIF.Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Proposition 54 campaign, announced today that former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon has endorsed Prop 54. Mr. Simon released the following statement of endorsement: Prop 54 will accomplish exactly what Californians deserve: a color-blind government that will no longer require its citizens...

America's Racists September 10, 2003 by Burt Prelutsky Two seemingly unrelated thoughts keep running through my brain, and I'm wondering if there is a connection that my subconscious is trying to make. The first of these notions is that most of the racists in America are black, and that until we all recognize and acknowledge this fact, we're not going to get anywhere so far as resolving the race question. For, way too often when blacks insist they want to have a dialogue with whites, what they really mean is that they get a free pass to bitch and...

Use of excess donations causes flapSupporters of Republican actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor are mounting a legal fight to try to stop Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante from using ``special-interest money'' to buy commercials that will feature Bustamante opposing Proposition 54.Schwarzenegger's attorney, Thomas Hiltachk, contends that there is a difference under the law because Schwarzenegger's commercials will deal with the recall while Bustamante's will deal with a separate ballot measure. Bustamante's campaign responds that there is no distinction and both candidates are doing the same thing by using unlimited contributions to their advantage.

Prop. 54 backer: Schwarzenegger gave him an earful - Candidate's camp denies reported 'crazies' remark By Timm Herdt, herdt@insidevc.com September 10, 2003 SACRAMENTO -- A worker for the Proposition 54 campaign who attended a weekend campaign event for Arnold Schwarzenegger said the actor explained his opposition to the controversial initiative and then characterized its supporters as "right-wing crazies." Proposition 54, which will be on the Oct. 7 recall election ballot, would prohibit state and local governments from asking individuals questions about their racial and ethnic backgrounds, with certain limited exceptions. The measure is sponsored by Ward Connerly, a Sacramento businessman...

SACRAMENTO, CALIF.-Ward Connerly, campaign chairman of Yes on Proposition 54, announced today that he would hold a press conference today at 1 p.m. in the Santa Barbara Room in Sacramento’s downtown Hyatt Regency hotel, located at 1209 L Street. Mr. Connerly will comment on recent developments in the Prop 54 campaign. He will be joined by Prop 54 Northern California chairman and Prop 209 co-author Dr. Glynn Custred. The following is the text of the conference.STATEMENT OF YES ON PROP 54 CAMPAIGN September 8, 2003 At this stage of the campaign for Proposition 54, I don’t know which is worse,...

Prop. 54 Sponsor Concedes Passage Is Now Unlikely Connerly says he can't match Bustamante's money. Schwarzenegger also weighs in against it. SACRAMENTO -- Ward Connerly all but conceded defeat Saturday on Proposition 54, his ballot measure to restrict the government collection of racial and ethnic data, after Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante said he would spend nearly $4 million to defeat it and Arnold Schwarzenegger also indicated his opposition. Bustamante's move is the result of a strategic shift in his campaign for governor. Hoping to defuse an issue that has dogged him on the campaign trail, his chief strategist said, the...

SACRAMENTO - Proposition 54 would make it nearly impossible to study why more white women are diagnosed with breast cancer but more African-American women die from it, say opponents in health care. The initiative, which would ban the collection of racial data in California, would also hinder efforts to gather information on hate crimes, say those in law enforcement. And it would hamstring efforts to close the educational performance gaps between Latino and white students, say those in education.

August 28, 2003FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Diane Schachterle (916) 444-2278or ds@racialprivacy.org CONNERLY AND NGUYEN CHASTISE LEGISLATORS FOR UNCIVIL DISCOURSEYesterday, the California Legislature convened a "hearing" to consider Proposition 54. As predicted, the hearing was nothing more than a sideshow orchestrated to allow the opponents of Proposition 54 to showcase their irresponsible fearmongering charges against the initiative. That is precisely why the chair of the American Civil Rights Coalition, Ward Connerly, refused to legitimize such an event by attending.Connerly had this to say about Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally's demeaning treatment of Kevin Nguyen, Proposition 54 proponent: "Kevin is a man of unparalleled dignity...

What Yvette Falarca, BAMN, is covering up is the fact that the vast majority of Californians do not at all fit into any of the categories of "race" that Felarca supports.  And all Californians are being forced by their own government to fit into a generic category which doesn't apply, except it benefits very specific interest groups.  What else she is not telling here that is that some cases, if one does NOT provide a "race" for a government sponsored or government subsidized entity -- one can not either get the service nor do particular transactions through the state.  In...

For distribution, pls. “The [CA] Attorney General’s glaring omission of this exemption could be very misleading to the voters,” commented Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Prop 54 campaign. Who is the Attorney General? Mr. D-Bill Lockyer. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/sc20010607.shtml Though Lay has not been convicted of any crime, Bill Lockyer says, "I would love to personally escort Lay to an 8-by-10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey.'" But on the subject of CA's mysterious "bookkeeping practices" throughout the educational and government bodies, and of course, the significant omission from...

I Have A Dream: Politically-Blind Pulpits By Chuck Baldwin Food For Thought From The Chuck Wagon August 12, 2003 The current edition of Insight Magazine carries an article entitled, "Connerly Has a Dream: A Color-blind Society." The story chronicles the activism of Ward Connerly, a black man who is waging a plucky fight against Affirmative Action. Like Connerly, I, too, have a dream. My dream, however, is not for a color-blind society, as important as that is. My dream is for politically-blind pulpits. As I see it, the greatest culprit contributing to America's cultural and political collapse is our church...

<p>Joining the legions of national figures weighing in on California's wild gubernatorial recall, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday that his civil rights organization will work in the next two months on a ``double no'' campaign to defeat both the recall and Proposition 54, which would ban the collection of racial data in California.</p>

For distribution: Already, numerous articles are coming out of the mainstream press concerning CA's Proposition 54 -- The Racial Privacy Initiative (Classification by Race, Ethnicity or National Origin Initiative) to be voted upon at/whenever the "recall" vote is scheduled. Currently, this vote is scheduled for October 7, 2003. The following article appears at the RPI website, and is authored by Ward Connerly, Chairman of the RPI. Opponents to the RPI are using "any means possible" to delay this vote. Opponents are collectively lying about this initiative. Most particularly with regards to "medical matters" for minorities. Section (f) of Proposition 54...

I do pick on California a bit and quite frankly, I think they deserve it most of the time. It is a land that is mired in a social oxymoron. Millionaire elitist movie stars remonstrate causes celeb while extolling the virtues of almost socialistic issues to those who probably won’t amass a wealth equal to a year of their incomes. Elected officials spend their way into record deficits and then sit around Sacramento pointing fingers of blame at everyone but themselves. Birds get more protection than the homeless. Yes, there are many reasons I believe that we should seriously reconsider...

Though he is 64 and insists he does not "want to do this the rest of my life," Ward Connerly is at it again, turning California into a laboratory for his contentious views on race and injecting some uncertainty into the already topsy-turvy recall election on Gov. Gray Davis. Mr. Connerly is a wealthy black businessman and University of California regent who gained nationwide attention in the 1990's for his crusade against affirmative action. His mission was so unpalatable to some people, including many prominent blacks, that the sign outside his land-use business here is now gone on the advice...

<p>Renegade University of California Regent Ward Connerly didn't plan it this way, but his Oct. 7 ballot initiative promoting a "colorblind society" could end up helping Gov. Gray Davis fight off a recall attempt on the same ballot.</p> <p>At least that's the conclusion of two political analysts who have been studying the issue at California State University at Sacramento. Both believe Connerly's Proposition 54, embraced by conservatives but widely condemned by Democrats, could spark a big opposition turnout of minority and liberal voters -- a development that they say would benefit the embattled governor.</p>

Lawmakers to announce support of ballot initiative By AMY F. BAILEY The Associated Press 7/22/2003, 5:56 p.m. ET LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A group of about 20 lawmakers are getting behind a ballot initiative to forbid the consideration of race in public education, hiring and contracting, a state representative said Tuesday. A group of Republican lawmakers are expected to announce their support of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative at a news conference Wednesday morning in the state Capitol, said Rep. Leon Drolet, a conservative Republican from Macomb County's Clinton Township. Drolet said he and Rep. Jack Brandenburg, a Republican from...

<p>Connerly, who championed Proposition 209, California's ban on racial preferences, said he was moved by Regent Matt Murray's argument that the proposal would take away opportunities for gay and lesbian students to discuss their unique health and social needs in a small-scale orientation tailored for them. Murray is the board's newly appointed student regent.</p>

When the Supreme Court ruled June 23 that state schools could use skin color as a factor in weighing whether to admit or reject applicants, businessman and conservative civil rights activist Ward Connerly was disgusted. "Civil rights cease to have any meaning according to this incoherent, poorly reasoned decision," he told HUMAN EVENTS. Connerly said the court's decision in Grutter v. Bollinger—which upheld an admissions policy at the University of Michigan Law School that used race as a factor in promoting the admission of blacks and Hispanics—effectively gave each state the power to determine the rights of its citizens based...

<p>BERKELEY, Calif. - Ward Connerly, who led the fight to drop race-based admissions at the University of California, wants the system to stop sponsoring race-themed activities such as separate ceremonies for black graduates.</p> <p>Connerly, a member of UC's governing board of regents, is proposing a ban on using UC funds for extracurricular events designed for specific race, ethnic or sexual orientation groups.</p>

Rush Limbaugh gives the golden mike to Ward for a part of the show today! Roger Hedgecock will be the guest host today and Ward will be on at 2 pm (Eastern) to discuss the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.