Ward Connerly was the keynote speaker today for the annual Pope Center Conference. Connerly, known in higher education circles for advocating the elimination of raced-based admission practices within the University of California as a member of the Board of Regents, spoke about his experiences growing up in Louisiana, as a young adult, and his thoughts on race issues today.
Connerly said he believes that affirmative action should not be used to promote discrimination, saying that people should be treated equally with no regards to race. He also talked about his experiences with the higher education establishment in “increasing diversity” within the University of California. He called the continue discussions “mindless blather about diversity.”
“I could never an answer that made sense to me,” Connerly said about diversity. “I could never get a sense of what was meant by that.”
Given the fact that Connerly spent 12 years as a member of the Board of Regents his comments should say a lot about the diversity movement in the country. To me, it is a lot about sticking your finger into the wind and guessing which way the wind is blowing. Connerly gets it about the diversity movment. He knows what is more important is who you are as a person, not the color of your skin or even what situation you came from in life.
“We cannot give deference to that fundamental principle of treating everyone equal without concern to race.”
Well said, Mr. Connerly.
