The controversy over Ward Connerly’s nationally-televised
remarks that it is possible to be a segregationist and not a racist
is not yet dead, and neither Connerly nor his critics are willing
to budge.
Connerly’s interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer has drawn
fire from state legislators, advocacy groups and students
throughout the University of California, where Connerly sits on the
Board of Regents.
In the interview, Connerly said segregation does not necessarily
equate to racism. He was referring to Sen. Trent Lott’s
comments in December 2002 that seemed to support Sen. Strom
Thurmond’s 1948 segregationist presidential campaign. For
Lott, the political fallout led to the Mississippi
politician’s resignation as Senate majority leader.
For Connerly, his comments have attracted the ire of the UC
Student Association and 36 Democratic state legislators who wrote a
letter asking the Board of Regents to reprimand him.
Connerly continues to stand by what he said on CNN, despite the
legislative letter and UCSA’s constant demands for his
apology. But the negative attention and accusations of racism
toward Connerly prompted him to write a letter of his own to
Regents’ Chairman John Moores in late January formally
defending his actions.
“When someone makes some sort of accusation about you
regarding race in this nation, you cannot afford to remain
silent,” Connerly said. “You have to respond to correct
the record.”
In his letter, Connerly wrote how the term
“segregationist” is narrowly limited to the segregation
of blacks in public and private facilities prior to the Civil
Rights Movement.
He argued that the concept could apply to other circumstances,
using the state’s Latino legislative caucus and
identity-based groups at university campuses as examples.
“These are forms of segregation,” Connerly said.
“I don’t favor them, but I’m not going to call
them racist.”
Some at UCLA did not see eye-to-eye with Connerly on his
interpretation of segregation.
“That is a shallow comment,” said Mohammad Mertaban,
president of the Muslim Student Association.
“A lot of similar struggles unite people, and
there’s a need for a safe environment on campus. Groups
create unity, not disunity,” he continued.
Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Glendale, one of the signatories of
the legislative letter, said Connerly is “trying to get off a
noose he’s tied for himself.”
“To twist this into freedom of association is
ridiculous,” Frommer said.
Connerly’s nearly 10 years as a regent have been filled
with controversy about whether he’s been using his position
to further his other ideological pursuits.
In 1995, he led the effort to pass SP-1 and -2, policies that
eliminated the use of race and gender preferences in university
admissions and hiring. One year later, he successfully spearheaded
the passage of Proposition 209, a ballot measure that banned the
use of affirmative action in hiring and contracting by all state
agencies. He then worked to pass similar measures in other
states.
His most recent project is the Racial Privacy Initiative, a
March 2004 ballot measure that would ban the collection and
maintaining of any race-based data by the state.
These efforts, some say, have unfairly pegged Connerly, who is
black, as being against increasing the number of people from
underrepresented populations in college and in top employment
positions.
“(Connerly) is not a racist person,” said David
Benjamin, who runs the Irvine-based test prep company Head of the
Class and has hounded the UC in the past to adjust its admissions
and standardized testing policies.
“People use that term too easily,” he said.
“If you’re against affirmative action, some say
you’re racist.”