Ward Connerly Turns to Prison Reform

Daisy Hernandez

Ward Connerly Turns to Prison Reform

So by now you all know affirmative action was banned in Nebraska and saved in Colorado and in both cases by teeny, tiny margins. One newspaper election night reported that a mere 14,000 voters are the reason Colorado is keeping affirmative action.

What you might not know is that Ward Connerly (the Black conservative we love to hate) is no longer going to be pursuing bans on affirmative action. That’s what he’s told the Colorado Independent.

Here’s the catch: he’s turning his focus to prison reform. No, no, he’s not talking about locking up more people of color (I know I was surprised myself); he wants to actually talk about alternatives. Here’s a line from the paper: He has developed a passion for the issue because, he said, “I know someone for whom I have great affection who is in this situation. I had to learn a lot more about the system than I ever knew before.”

Sigh. If only Ward had known someone he cared about who was in this situation where they had accessed schooling or jobs through affirmative action programs….maybe we could all have been spared from his attacks these years.

Posted at 10:37 AM, Nov 21, 2008 in Permalink | View Comments

Comments

We should be offering help and education to everyone who does not have such an opportunity due to their socioeconomic status. We should not use color of skin to determine that status, that is called racism. There is not reason why a poor white student with limited access to education should be picked over an equally qualified poor black student that lives in the same neighborhood, both are in the same situation they simply happen to have different skin colors. This doesn't make up for historic wrongdoings it perpetuates racial stereotypes and ensures that minorities will be seen as unqualified candidates that are only there because of political guilt. Good luck preaching your racism.