As I stated, Bush is trying a compromise, to head off true reform: the abolition of AF. The public enthusiastically endorses the end of racist AF.
November 18, 1999
Why I'm Still Fighting
Preferences in Florida
By Ward Connerly, chairman of the American Civil Rights Coalition.
Since January I have been leading a campaign in Florida to qualify an initiative for the November 2000 ballot that, like California's Proposition 209, would end government preferences based on race, sex and ethnicity. Our efforts have been opposed by virtually every newspaper in the state and both major parties. Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, has described our campaign, the Florida Civil Rights Initiative, as "divisive."
Last week Mr. Bush announced his alternative, dubbed the One Florida Initiative, which he declared would bring Floridians together and lead to harmony and unity. Nice try, but within minutes of Mr. Bush's announcement, several black elected officials announced that the governor was contributing to the "resegregation" of Florida, "turning back the clock on progress," and ignoring "400 years of slavery and Jim Crow laws."
In recent days, some of Mr. Bush's allies and several Florida newspapers have suggested that I save face, declare victory and head back to California. I respectfully reject this advice. Here's why I consider it urgent to continue this battle. The issue of race, in one form or another, is a drag on the American spirit. Even as Americans marry and have children across racial and ethnic lines at a rapidly increasing rate, government agencies continue to classify us according to race. Many of our social conflicts have a racial dimension, and it's not just black and white. Those conflicts can be any conceivable configuration--black/Hispanic, black/Jewish, Latino/Jewish, Armenian/Latino, Korean/black, American black/immigrant black. You name it, we've got it somewhere in the U.S.
Politicians are playing the race card, often from the bottom of the deck. The die is cast for the November 2000 campaign. Democrats will demagogue and accuse Republicans of being "mean-spirited" and "antiminority," and Republicans will quiver and quake and utter mindless blather about "diversity" and "inclusion." The day after the election, both parties will return to their stale agendas. And the beat goes on.
I want to see progress, not lip service. I want Americans to become a truly united people. We can't do that without confronting the issue of "affirmative action"--a regime of policies and programs that has become convoluted, confusing and frequently corrupt.
It is in this context that Mr. Bush's Initiative must be viewed. First, let's review what he is proposing. The governor has issued an executive order directing the state agencies under his direct control to end preferences in state government contracting. He is urging those state officials who don't answer to him to follow his lead. But, to "increase the utilization of minority contractors," Mr. Bush proposes to reclassify the state's purchasing agents from the ranks of civil service to employees serving at his pleasure. Then, he will "hold them accountable" for their performance in improving the volume of state government contracts that flow to minorities. In short, the governor proposes to eliminate explicit racial preferences, on the one hand, while maintaining "race conscious" policies, on the other.
In higher education, Mr. Bush is urging the Board of Regents to end the use of race in university admissions, but he is continuing race-based scholarships and proposing that all students who score in the top 20% of their high school class be admitted to a state university. Mr. Bush claims this approach will result in a greater number of "minorities" than the existing system of admissions.
Part of me applauds Mr. Bush for at least trying to reach a compromise on this issue. No other incumbent governor has even attempted what he is proposing. And much of what he is proposing can be viewed as complementary to our initiative. I love the race-neutral outreach components of his initiative that seek to give all children equal access to educational opportunities.
If Mr. Bush is trying to position his state for the ultimate collapse of preferences, then he is exercising true leadership. But there are some things that just can't be compromised, and equal protection under the law is one of them. Mr. Bush's initiative falls short in several areas.
For one thing, executive orders are not set in stone. Just as he is trying to end explicit preferences with a stroke of the pen, Gov. Bush or some future governor could restore them with a stroke of the pen. It was executive orders and judicial decrees that got us into this mess, and they could get us into it again if we the people fail to let our elected representatives know that we don't want them perverting the principle of equality ever again.
The governor avoids dealing with preferences by local governments, saying he doesn't want to "micromanage" cities and counties. That leaves about 80% of the preference programs in place. Maybe Mr. Bush can't "micromanage" local government, but the electorate certainly can--through the ballot box.
Finally, I fail to understand how a system of purchasing that holds gubernatorial appointees personally accountable for increasing minority contractors will not end up becoming the functional equivalent of a preference scheme. I strongly urge the governor to abandon this ill-advised concept,
Despite months of hostile editorials and debates, Floridians support our initiative. A statewide survey earlier this month showed the initiative held more than a two-to-one margin of support among likely voters. Hispanics supported it by 50% to 39%, and among blacks, supporters and opponents were in a statistical dead heat. When asked about "affirmative action," opponents outnumber supporters by more than four to one.
Of all the arguments that have been made against the Florida Civil Rights Initiative, the most disingenuous is that it is "divisive." The issue of race should not be off limits for debate in a democracy. Those who support racial preferences should be willing to defend them in healthy debate. And I certainly hope Mr. Bush does not subscribe to the view that it is inappropriate for the people to exercise a little self-government when their elected officials demonstrate reluctance to act according to the people's will.
Will Mr. Bush's latest effort spell defeat for the Florida Civil Rights Initiative? I don't think so. But even if it does, I certainly would rather lose in defense of a principle that is morally correct and consistent with the traditions of America than claim a hollow victory and run away from my principles.
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