LIBA hosts debate on affirmative-action ban

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By MELISSA LEE / the Lincoln Journal Star

In less than two weeks, Americans will elect either a black president or female vice president.

That, say proponents of a proposed ban on race- and gender-based affirmative action, is evidence racism and sexism are on their way out.

It’s progress, opponents counter, but doesn’t mean the U.S. has achieved racial and gender equality.

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Ward Connerly

Ward Connerly

In fact, said David Kramer of the pro-affirmative action group Nebraskans United, Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama’s race and Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin’s gender have emerged as issues again and again in the campaign — proof the U.S. is far from a race- and gender-neutral country.

If voters agree, Kramer said, “let’s not dismantle the programs that helped get us here.”

His remarks came during a Tuesday debate on the proposed affirmative-action ban hosted by the Lincoln Independent Business Association.

Nebraska voters are scheduled to weigh in on the ban, known as Initiative 424, on Nov. 4.

The initiative would amend the state’s constitution to prohibit preferential treatment based on race, gender, ethnicity or national origin in public hiring and admissions decisions.

Kramer’s opponent was Ward Connerly of the California-based American Civil Rights Institute, the group that has successfully spearheaded affirmative-action bans in California, Washington and Michigan and that targeted five more states this year.

All taxpayers deserve equal treatment from their government, said Connerly, who is black.

“I can’t think of anything more basic that belongs in the constitution than my rights and your rights,” the former University of California regent said at the standing room-only debate. “That’s basic, folks. That’s a roadmap for how the government is to treat us.”

Quotas and set-asides don’t exist in Nebraska, Kramer said. The affirmative-action programs the state does have — like those that encourage men to pursue nursing, or women to pursue engineering — are good for all Nebraskans, he said.

The state should only amend its constitution, he said, to correct a “very, very serious program.”

“This is a creative attempt to address a problem that doesn’t actually exist here in Nebraska,” he said.

There’s nothing wrong with, for example, encouraging more men to go into nursing, Connerly responded. But taxpayers shouldn’t have to support scholarships and recruitment efforts that give preferential treatment to anyone, regardless of race or gender, he said.

Such preferences are having perilous consequences, Connerly said. The country has “gotten carried away” with efforts to boost racial and gender diversity, he said. And in judging college, scholarship and job applicants on factors beyond their merit, the U.S. is losing its competitive edge against countries like China.

Efforts to address the country’s education gap between racial groups should begin at the elementary level, not the university level, he said.

“If you really want to treat people equally, treat them equally,” he said. “Presume they have the same God-given capacity that you do.”

Kramer and Connerly are set to debate Initiative 424 twice more in the next week. They’ll meet in Omaha on Wednesday, and Doane College in Crete will host the pair on Oct. 29.

Connerly’s group targeted Nebraska, Colorado, Arizona, Missouri and Oklahoma this year in its effort to end affirmative action across the nation, but succeeded in getting the issue on the ballot only in Nebraska and Colorado.

Polls show most voters support ending racial and gender preferences. But in Nebraska, numerous groups have come out against the affirmative-action ban, saying it will endanger programs that help level the playing field for historically underrepresented groups.

For example, the University of Nebraska says a ban would hamper its efforts to diversify its campuses. Supporters of the ban note NU could still use affirmative action based on factors like socioeconomic status and geography, just not race or gender.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.