Connerly brings affirmative action debate to YCSU

JOHN YI/YH Ward Connerly, the champion of Proposition 209, fielded questions from the YCSU audience on Monday, October 25.

Ward Connerly told a group of students in Sudler Hall that race and ethnicity were "burning at the nation's soul." Connerly, who helped pass California's Proposition 209, ending race- and gender-based affirmative action in government institutions, was a guest of the Yale College Student Union (YCSU) on Mon., Oct. 25. Connerly defended his efforts and explain-ed what he considers the correct way to pursue equality.

Citing case after case where affirmative action has been stopped in the United States, Connerly argued that the time has been reached for a change in the equilibrium between equal opportunity and equal protection under the law. "Practices that treat people differently because of race, gender or ethnicity are being ended by the courts or the electorate is turning them down," Connerly said.

Connerly argued that approaches focusing on categories simply perpetuate separation. "The use of race does not get us beyond race," he said. "This generation [should not be] accountable for the debts of our ancestors." To Connerly, race has become a "social construct" where minorities are perceived and perceive themselves as being on the outside trying to get in. Lowering standards to benefit seemingly underprivileged groups creates a stigma for students who could have succeeded on their own merits. For him, affirmative action is at the point of "diminishing returns."

As an example, Connerly discussed how the UC system has institued new programs to eliminate racial disparities since the end of affirmative action. "The University is getting involved much earlier in the process," he said, describing outreach programs for improving schools. Citing a high school teacher who told him, "Cream rises to the top," and comedian Chris Rock, who said, "People perform at the level that's expected of them," Connerly commended a recent policy that automatically accepts the top four percent of students from each high school.

Connerly also reflected on what factors should be taken into account beyond academic merit. "[Universities] have often crossed the line into territory where it does not belong to try to level that playing field. The standard of merit is one that has to be rethought." He added that factors such as being the first in a family to go to college should be taken into account. "I'm not opposed to—no matter what you read—all affirmative action, just that which is race-based," Connerly said.

Connerly digressed briefly from the topic of affirmative action to discuss his take on national politics. Connerly characterized his decision to endorse Republican candidate George W. Bush, DC '68, as choosing "the best of a sorry lot." He reconciled his decision with Bush's support of affirmative action as being "pragmatism," since Bush is "not in the business of throwing [Connerly's] vote away." In general, Connerly described his intermediate steps as being a "strategy."

Connerly was especially passionate about discrimination against interracial individuals and the definition of race by single labels. He pointed to the rise in interracial individuals adding that this makes it hard to check boxes defining race—and he wants people to stop asking. "My vision for where we ought to be in, say, 50 years is an America in which there are no boxes on application forms [for race]," he said.

In discussions with the Herald, Connerly expanded on his criticism of racial labeling. "Among a lot of black people, there's a certain condescension about blacks who have multiracial backgrounds. Look at [the Black Entertainment Television] network and watch some of the `comedians'...the way that they comment about Tiger Woods—it's racist. You know they talk about the size of his teeth and whether he's having wonton soup tomorrow?"

Connerly also questioned the label of African-American. "Why do we assign to black people the classification of African-American when they might be 80 percent non-African?" he said. "Why do we still cling to this one-drop rule?"

At the speech, Connerly responded to the resistance to ending affirmative action programs. "Any time you want to take away something from someone that they think that they benefit from, they're going to oppose it," he said. Later, when talking to the Herald, Connerly complimented the audience and pointed out that he got a lot of support from the black students. According to Connerly, many people in the audience prefaced questions with, "I agree with you, but..." He said, "It was probably easier to get rid of preferences 20 years ago than it is now. With each passing generation, we have a whole new group of people that we're beholden to."

When the Herald asked Connerly what Yale should do about affirmative action, he did not advocate any specific policy changes, but pointed out that Yale could contribute to the debate. "I think Yale, as one of the most prestigious institutions in America, can provide an excellent forum to talk about race." He suggested having forums on interracial marriage, requiring that people choose one term to describe their race, the use of race in criminal profiling, and "topics Yale could air and bring in prominent people to put, to move the ball up the field a little bit on this whole debate about race."

"Escrow cannot be closed on that issue until black people either agree to the closure or until we have made every effort to enlist their support," he said

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