Since the term “affirmative action” was first uttered by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, it has been the subject of intense debate and controversy. That debate continued at Fair360, formerly DiversityInc’s learning event in Washington, D.C., in March 2011 when anti-affirmative-action leader Ward Connerly took to the stage and argued that the government should not be in the business “of picking winners and losers based on factors such as skin color.”
Connerly told the audience of senior diversity-management executives that he believes affirmative action is a form of racism and that people can achieve success without preferential treatment in college enrollment or in employment.
Connerly, president of the American Civil Rights Institute, who is best known for leading the state-to-state effort to roll back affirmative action, described himself as a crusader for “a colorblind society” and argued that dismantling affirmative action will force the government to treat all its citizens equally regardless of their racial background.
