individual american states were required to have affirmative action programs.
individual american states were required to have affirmative action programs.
who was required to have affirmative action programs?
individual american states
the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination stipulates (in article 2.2) that affirmative action programs may be required of countries that ratified the convention, in order to rectify systematic discrimination. it states, however, that such programs "shall in no case entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved".
affirmative action
these ballot initiatives spread around the country primarily in red states. in 2003 the supreme court had ruled on affirmative action programs at the university of michigan in "gratz v. bollinger" and grutter v. bollinger; the rulings found the affirmative action program was unconstitutional for the way it was applied, but ambiguously said it could continue to use affirmative action. this strengthened the campaign against racial preferences and proponents pressed ahead with more ballot initiatives under the theory that affirmative action programs were no longer needed. the tide against further passage of such discriminatory ballot box institutional racism didn't abate until the 2008 election cycle when efforts by ward connerly, the chairman of the american civil rights institute, a national non-profit organization founded to oppose racial and gender preferences, failed to get ballot measures passed in 3 states, was rejected by voters in another, and only in nebraska got passage to add one last state banning affirmative action as a remedy for past discrimination. his critics condemned connerly's reasoning, saying he failed to see the extent of past racism on african americans and hispanics; and that contemporary institutionalized racism is pervasive and powerful, and that affirmative action can overcome the residual effects of past institutional racism on people of color. advocates of affirmative action programs denied that these were 'racial quotas' as that was seen as divisive and under color of law, but affirmative action goals fell to this onslaught and subsequent reverse discrimination lawsuits ended the practice. connerly, for his part, stated "i think that in some quarters, many parts of the country, a white male is really disadvantaged ... because we have developed this notion of women and minorities being so disadvantaged and we have to help them, that we have, in many cases, twisted the thing so that it's no longer a case of equal opportunity. it's a case of putting a fist on the scale." his multi-racial background caused conservatives to back his cause as he was perceived to be both black and anti-affirmative action.
institutional racism