Affirmative action dissected

By: Matthew Hansen , Midlands News Service

Two national activists landed in Nebraska on Tuesday, searching out voters and delivering starkly different arguments about the future of affirmative action.

Ward Connerly, the California businessman who's leading an effort to ban affirmative action-style practices in Nebraska and four other states, spoke to University of Nebraska-Lincoln students Tuesday night.Affirmative action isn't necessary in 2008, Connerly said, and demeans the racial minorities and women it's supposed to protect.Connerly's group is seeking to put a proposed constitutional amendment on November's ballot. If passed by voters, it would prohibit all consideration of race, ethnicity and gender in hiring and scholarship decisions made by public agencies such as the University of Nebraska.Pointing to the candidacy of Democrat Barack Obama, Connerly said in an interview: "We have a multiracial man selfidentified as black possibly becoming the next president of the United States. How can you argue that a place like Nebraska is institutionally racist, and therefore needs (affirmative action), when you have this kind of dynamic in the country?''

ReNee Dunman, president of the American Association for Affirmative Action, attended a rally at the Omaha Public Schools' headquarters at 30th and Cuming Streets on Tuesday afternoon.Affirmative action has helped women and minorities enter into traditionally white, male-dominated fields, she said, but the playing field remains uneven, and a government policy that promotes diversity remains a necessity."We've made a lot of progress, but there's still a lot of progress to be made,'' Dunman said. "It's the duty of this country to break down barriers that still exist.''

Nebraska voters will likely hear both viewpoints for months to come.Connerly said he is certain that his organization, Super Tuesday for Equal Rights, will get the 115,000 signatures required to place the affirmative action proposal onto November's ballot.Similar ballot measures have passed in California, Washington and Michigan despite opposition from university leaders in each of those states.University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman have come out strongly against the proposed ban, saying it could damage NU's efforts to recruit minority students and endanger outreach programs that help Native Americans and Hispanic business owners.Connerly said that he's used to fighting against university leaders to enact affirmative action bans and that he doesn't expect Nebraska to be any different.Groups affiliated with Connerly are also trying to pass similar bans in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri and Oklahoma this year. http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19337218&BRD=2712&PAG=461&dept_id=556239&rfi=6