Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ward Connerly’s anti-equal opportunity initiative will be back on the ballot in Arizona
Wichita NAACP Blog: Well it appears our old friend Ward Connerly is at it again. Connerly's effort to outlaw affirmative action programs and any special programs or preferences for women and minorities will be back on the ballot in Arizona next year. On a 17-11 vote the Arizona State Senate gave final approval to a proposed constitutional amendment which purports 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, will now be placed on the 2010 ballot. A similar initiative drive in 2008 failed when backers failed to gather enough signatures. Federal courts have long-since outlawed numerical quotas that spell out that a certain percentage of school admissions, jobs or contracts must go to minorities or women. But judges have upheld various "affirmative action' programs designed to help those whose groups have been underrepresented. And the courts also have allowed certain bid preferences if the government can show that minority or women are not getting a share of contracts. But Ward Connerly hopes to end all that. His deceptively simple language would formally prohibit any outreach efforts to women and minority owned businesses. It would also prohibit informational forums, such as "how to do business with the City" type forums if they were at all targeted towards providing information to under-represented groups. In short, it would prohibit any official efforts to address under-representation or disproportionalities in public employment, contracting, or education.
To read more, click here.
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