From Civil Rights to ‘Diversity’

‘Race has no place in American life or law,’ JFK said. It’s time to recover that ideal.

By Ward Connerly. Excerpts:

"In 1961 President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, which required federal contractors to take “affirmative action” to ensure that employees wouldn’t be discriminated against because of race, creed, color or national origin. It wasn’t meant to discriminate against formerly favored groups. “Race has no place in American life or law,” JFK said."

"the 1964 Civil Rights Act, LBJ signed Executive Order 11246 on Sept. 24, 1965, firmly establishing that nondiscrimination in employment would be the law of our land.Yet this strategy to prevent discrimination ended up driving discrimination against whites and Asians in education—all in the name of “diversity.”"

"As I delved into this new world of building diversity, it became apparent that given the profound disparities in academic achievement, diversity could be achieved only by applying different standards."

"Justice Sandra Day O’Connor [in 2003] expressed the hope that in 25 years the use of racial preferences would no longer be necessary to achieve diversity."