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Feedback ForumNOW wants to hear from you! Send us your opinions, reactions and ideas about "Attacking Affirmative Action"Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: Robert Comment: Poor Leo must go through life with not only a poor education, as evidenced by his writing, but also with a chip on his shoulder so big I'd be amazed if he could stand. Now he challenges us to prove a negative, something that obviously cannot be done: that racism no longer exists. Is there racism in the U.S.A. Leo? Of course there is: just look in the mirror my man! Poster: Jackie Comment: I was very upset by the white male guest on the show that thought that color/race was the only reason that his classmate got a free scholarship to a university. As a very smart African American woman who has gone to high school and college with white male peers I have heard this argument too many times to count. That Hispanic woman is not the reason you did not get a free ride. She may have done more research on finding scholarships. She may have had better grades and more compelling life experiences/stories that made her more desirable to the college she applied to. She may have been a more well rounded individual with more extracurricular activities and volunteer work. And did she even go to a prestigious university or get the full scholarship to the same university that you applied to? I know very well that she was not an F student who went to Harvard on a full ride. Stop blaming black and brown people for your problems when you are not up to par. Many times it is another white student male or female that took your place, not us. In addition to that we still have all the hardships of paying for college! We too have to take out student loans and have to search for more money! Most of us do not have tons of money laying around for going to a university. Please stop pretending that the system is against you. Answer this: Would you trade you privileged white male existence to become black or even brown? I am sure that you would say no because you are well aware of all the inequalities that exist. Disadvantaged minorities groups are trying to have an equal opportunity to gain better education and have equal access to the fruits of the American dream if they work hard and play fair. Do not act as if we are all lazy, illiterate, talentless people looking for handouts. Many of us who are ambitious enough to want to get ahead are working twice as hard to get half as far as white men. Affirmative action was put in place to level the playing field. Stop your whining. Poster: Ernest Comment: Who is Now kidding? They made a big deal out of the money for Affirmitive Action Propositions across the USA coming from California. What about moveon.org operating in every state? This money comes from a currency trader based in Europe(Soros). But no mention of this on Now. Grassroots efforts for any cause always receive their money from many sources countrywide. Since this is a democracy let the people vote. The people can read the petition and sign it or not sign it. Why is Now afraid to have these questions put to the people in the form of a Proposition? Give us a break. The public is not stupid, let us think for ourselves. Poster: Leo Comment: Maybe there is something in the air that is affecting people's minds. We knowingly live in a racist culture and any attempt to rectify the exploitation of minorities is considered racist! To use the Affirmative Action program as a excuse to imply it is a tools used for racism towards Whites causes me to wonder if Whites are being discriminated against them they are being discriminated against by their own race because Minorities (Blacks in particular) Do Not Run This Country! The stereotype that Blacks are lazy and all it takes is hard work to succeed in this country then I say All of those Blacks that labored in the hot sun day after miserable day, year after miserable year working harder than most people can even think about today with being hated because they did not look like their tormentors, those people should own this country! PROVE AMERICA IS NO LONGER RACIST- ANYONE!! Poster: BSBUSTER Comment: To all of you oppose AA, let me just point out ONE FACT : WAS THERE ANY DEBATE FOR ALMOST THREE HUNDRED YEARS, ABOUT A GREAT 'AFFIRMATIVE ACTION' POLICY, 'OVERWHELMINGLY FAVORING' THE RULING WHITE CLASS, IN THIS COUNTRY, THAT WENT BY THE NAME OF 'S-L-A-V-E-R-Y' ??????????? - - AND SUBSEQUENTLY, CONTINUED BY A POLICY CALLED 'R-A-C-I-S-M' WHICH EXISTS EVEN TO THIS DAY ?????????????? I REST MY CASE !!!!!!!!!! Poster: Ron Christensen Comment: Once upon a time, affirmative action served a purpose. Today, it serves the opposite purpose by insuring that race separation continues, instead of corrects. MLK said 'one day my children will be judged by their character and not by their race'. Hasn't that day come? Shouldn't we all be judged by our character? Clearly, affirmative action forces us to be judged by our race and MLK would not approve. Poster: Robin Comment: Please show the 2007 percentage with college degrees by race and ethnicity on your website. That is perhaps a more important educational statistic than percentages with a high school degree. Thank you. Poster: Sean Comment: Racially based affirrmative action is racism pure and simple. No amount of justification changes this fact. Discriminating against white people because they are white is just as offensive as discriminating against black people because they are black. There is no difference. Poster: Ward Connerly Comment: David Broncocio is a genuine professional, but something went profoundly wrong somewhere between our almost two-hour taping of this show and what was cut and spliced into the final program. Clearly, there was a hidden agenda; and it was revealed with the teaser that highlighted my comment that while males are often on the wrong end of race preferences. Taken out of context, this comment becomes fodder for those who believe that all white males are inherently beneficiaries of white privilege. My point was that anyone can be on the wrong end when our government engages in racial discrimination. It should also be said that I am not a registered lobbyist and I never have been such. Moreover, Connerly & Associates does not represent big public works contrators, nor have we ever lobbied on their behalf. The Roofing Contractors Association of California does not include firms that are big public works contractors. Even if I were a lobbyist, the fact is that less than 5% of the funds to support the initiatives that I promote come from all of real estate and construction. Yet, NOW was intent of maligning my motives and this is the angle that was falsely used to try to achieve that objective. Finally, NOW failed to show the actual language of our initiatives in its totality: The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting. This language mirrors the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which commands that all Americans be treated equally by the government without regard to race, color, sex or national origin. Those who essentially call me a puppet for whites ought to seek the repeal of that Act if they don't like this policy position and stop engaging in silly, ad hominem attacks against someone who merely argues that we should obey the law. When will we ever learn as a society that equal treatment ought to mean just that and that principle ought to apply to all women and men, straights and gays, blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos and Native Americans - everyone - when they apply for admission to a pulbic college, bid on a public contract or apply for public employment? Poster: sandra mason Comment: Race-based affirmative action is only one of the many types of preferences used to determine college admission. Why aren't we dealing with ALL preferences, especially legacy preferences? A recent Princeton University study determined that students admitted under race-based affirmative action are more successful than legacy admittees. Moreover, many of these legacy beneficiaries go on to high-level positions where they become major screw-ups. Think George W. Bush and his heir apparent, John McCain, both legacy beneficiaries. But, Ward Connerly isn't concerned about ending all preferences. As NOW pointed out, Connerly wants to preserve preferences for the rich and well-connected. Poster: Mike Comment: Instead of focusing on the real issue of racial preferences, the people at NOW decided instead to spend a great portion of the program attacking one man in California. What they missed out and intentionally disregarded was the story of millions of people of another minority--namely Asian Americans--who have been historically ignored and selected against in admissions and hiring. What they missed out was the story of thousands of poor immigrant families like mine--families that didn't speak English and arrived on the shores of America with less than $100. Why does mainstream America continue to ignore a select group of people based on the mistaken idea that they are all college educated and making $66,000 a year? When will people wake up and see the truly invisible in America? Poster: Nick Comment: Affirmative Action is unconstitutional anyways. Equal protection under the law is just that equal no matter the race. It is time for the Supreme court to actually judge based on the constitution, not based on politics. Poster: Nick Comment: This seems to happen all the time. When ever this show presents a left right issue. They take the side of the left. I don't mind that, but they are insulting my intelligence by claiming to be fair. Poster: Ed Brown - Michigan Comment: What are the benefits and consequences of banning Affirmative Action mandates? There are only short-term benefits for a select group of people (whites). There will be long-term consequences for all (Caucasian americans, African Americans, asian amercians, latino americans, ...etc). And as usual those that have particular agendas take advantage of people that unconsciously identify themselves with hot button issues. How long has Affirmative Action mandates existed in this country; in the 60’s, the 70’s? What about discrimination against minorities by the cultural practices in Government and in Major Corporations; in the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, while continuing in the 21st century? Let’s review the math: Hundreds of years of oppression for women and minorities that includes both men and women. I am not condoning the “side effects” of Affirmative Action. I am not condoning nor rejoice in the short-term consequence of those that happen to be white, those that feel slighted and disadvantaged by the Affirmative Action mandates. So why would I support Affirmative Action if I don’t condone the short-term effects against the class that has benefited the most from racial and gender injustices? Answer - because minorities, which just happens to include women, are currently suffering long-term consequences because of past and current discrimination. My foundational argument is that Affirmative action should never have been necessary to create opportunities; being that the goal was to begin to provide more opportunities for minorities. The second argument (using major corporations as an example) is that upper-level positions are not proportionally distributed. However, there are competent minorities available to fill those positions. Additionally, discrimination continues to exist. Women are not paid the same level of wages for executing the same level of service as men. Let’s review the benefits and consequences of banning Affirmative Action (AA) mandates: 1.Benefit - The majority will not be disadvantaged in the smaller number of cases of individuals that are actually affected by AA mandates. 2.Benefit – Revenues will increase or agendas will be successful for those companies/persons/parties that use hot button issues to distract people to reach their own personal goals. Although this very small group will benefit, they will polarize millions that will vote for their cause regardless of the unknown long-term consequences to the agreeing voters. 3.Consequence – Not only will hiring or admission practices be affected, leading to a reduction of educational and financial opportunities for minorities, eventually programs that strengthen individuals and communities will also be abolished. 4.Consequence – The greatest long-term consequence is closed doors, the reduction of equalizing mediums, and the most damaging but least recognizable – more polarization and the distraction from efforts of unity. What are my suggestions? Let Affirmative Action run its course naturally! In a period, shorter than many would think, the majority of minorities would eventually call for the abolishment of Affirmative Action mandates. At that point of acceptance of its discontinuance, the disparities will be reduced; educational and financial opportunities will be more realized. Recognition of disparities realized by whites will be acknowledged by a greater number of persons of minorities than the current amount. This period of realization will be far shorter than the hundreds of years of discrimination that has been realized by minorities. The result will be a mutual agreement to end a equalizing medium that is no longer necessary; how great unity will be. If this polarization does not cease before the minorities become the new majority, the small number of whites that are actually being discriminated against will increase exponentially. For those that are white, those that feel the sting of discrimination please become aware and don’t fall for the tricks of polarization. For in so doing (being aware) you are likely to pave the way for unity amongst all people. But if you just want short-term relief from your short life experience of discrimination cry aloud and lead the way for long-term discrimination for your descendants. Minorities (which include women) are expected to deal with it, to get over it. It is amazing that 40 years or so of legislative efforts are expected to erase hundreds of years of oppression. While, a few years of what many call reverse discrimination is projected as being inhumane and unacceptable in this day and time - a few years of adjustments versus hundreds of years of oppression – we must have all failed math. If the prime educational opportunities that have been available to the majority class of people results in this type of mathematical analysis (a few years equals hundreds of years), I suppose that the majority needs Affirmative Action mandates to help with their moral calculation methods. In the beginning of this response regarding the assault against Affirmative Action, I intentionally did not capitalize the ethnic categories of Americans to symbolize that not one group is more important than the other. We are one group (the Human race). It is amazing that in times of plenty these issues are nationally non-existent (polarization is less effective) but in times of strain the topics of polarization arise in abundance. How much resolve does Americans really have in creating unity for when times become challenging we go back to desiring things the way they have always been. Let Affirmative Action Run Its Course Naturally in a Unified Way! Written by a simple man – Ed Brown Poster: cspackler Comment: That had to be THE most biased reporting I have ever seen. I laughed when the pbs promo immediately following the program touted its coverage as unbiased, straight facts allowing the intelligent viewer to make his/her own decisions in the election year. I think the reporter may have even rolled his eyes once or twice when speaking with Ward Connerly. Nice softball questions for the other side as well (although I really don't believe they could be classified as questions). Everything I would write has already been posted so I won't repeat. However, I would like to address the concerns expressed in a few posts here. Ending AA is not a recognition that racism no longer exists in the US. AA is itself a racist institution and no playing field should be evened based on color of skin (see post by Working Class White Dude about socio-economic based considerations). Again, PISS POOR one sided reporting on a very important issue. Poster: J,Sierra Comment: I can't believe NOW vets these comments. Particularly that of R. Sakall, which is nothing but the ramblings of a anti-immigration racist, similar to what I read on SFgate everyday. He states he went to college yet he can't fabricate a correct sentence with correct spelling! I noticed this in several comments with people complaining they couldn't get ahead. Well people if you want to get ahead at the very minimum you need to be literate. With regards to the complaints about scholarship inequality, it's been a long time since I applied but from what I recall, the structure is unequal from the outset. Many are based on narrow criteria such as where you live, down to the county level, what your parents did for a living, what fraternity or sorority they belonged to, if your family originated in a usually European country, if you have a rare disease, etc. etc. After all it's up to whoever starts the scholarship fund to decide what the criteria are. Poster: Simone Comment: It is a disgrace that a Black man would work so hard to eliminate affirmative action.I am quite sure that he reaped many benefits from affirmative action. The purpose of affirmative is to give people of color an opportunity to advance in education and employment. He is a sell out and has stooped to the lowest level for capital gain.Race has everything to do with success.Equal opportunities are not available to all people and the assessability to opportunity is very limeted especially for Black people. Every negative device is available to Black people especially Drugs, limited jobs, and poor schools that don't prepare minorities for college.Each Race's experience is different and should not be compared to others. The purpose of Affirmative Action is to ensure that minorities are given equal opportunity that they do not have in America. In New Jersey the only Contractors that I have seen building in nj are white.Black people are not asking for a hand out.Black people have a right to be treated equal. Poster: E. Walker Comment: Ward Connerly is the Republican Party’s, the angry white men, “boy”. Affirmative Action did not establish quotes. It took the existing quote and gave what usually amounts to less that 10% to minorities. The remaining 90 some percent remains as the old quote, for whites. In all math courses I have taken, 90 some percent is larger than less than 10%. It is much larger, nine times. No one complains about the 90 some only the less than 10. If the less than 10% afforded by Affirmative Action goes, it will be added to the 90 some to become asit was for 100’s of years’ 100%, white. You only have to have worked in corporate America prior to and immediately after Affirmative Action to know that currently we, the minorities have it worse. We are few, spread far apart, not allowed to socialize with other minority co-workers and subject to racism equal to the worse times in the history of our country. The last to steps of any oppression, in this case racism, is to undo the prior step, which was to correct the ills of the oppression. We have been in these last two steps since the mid 1970’s as the angry white male divided and conquered to get his power back from the people. Race is Americans’ divider which conquers its people. Poster: NOW Viewer in Phoenix AZ Comment: Connerly Iniative Defeated In Arizona Saturday, August 30, 2008 Dear NOW Editors and Fellow Viewers, Please see message below from Arizona State Representative and Chair of Protect Arizona's Freedom (PAF) Kyrsten Sinema who organized NEARLY 1,000 VOLUNTEERS working literally 24 hours a day, seven days a week over the past 18 days out of a local union hall, to complete an exhaustive review of Ward Connerly’s petitions. PAF filed lawsuit on Monday morning alleging that over 100,000 of the signatures gathered by Connerly’s out-of-state team are invalid and must be thrown out due to violations of state law. The court ruled in PAF's favor, but Connerly filed a bogus counter-claim in a last ditch effor to keep his initiative on the November ballot. Connerly's legal move caused a Phoenix judge to halt ballot printing for a few days, but his motion--argued against by PAF's legal team-- was ultimately defeated in court yesterday. Please read the following congratulatory message sent last evening to PAF's pro-affirmative action volunteers: Happy Friday everyone! I am proud and honored to announce that Ward Connerly withdrew his ridiculous lawsuit this morning and his initiative WILL NOT be on the ballot this November. (Which we all already knew!) Late Wednesday afternoon, Connerly filed suit and asked the Court to let his initiative back on the ballot. Our fearless lawyers appeared in court yesterday and stayed until 9 pm last night as Connerly presented his claim. He was stellarly unprepared and made claims that had no substance and no merit. The judge graciously gave Connerly the entire holiday weekend to work on his case and set another hearing for Tuesday morning. This morning, Connerly admitted that he couldn’t prove his claims and dropped the case. The ballots for the November election have gone to print and Prop 104 – the so-called Arizona Civil Rights Initiative – IS NOT ON THE BALLOT. You all heard from me last week when we declared victory. I told you that Connerly had run out of time to sue, and that even if he did he would lose because of the strength of the evidence that we compiled over the last month. Today, we were proven correct. Connerly’s last-ditch effort to skirt the law in Arizona has failed. CONGRATULATIONS AND ENJOY THIS HOLIDAY WEEKEND! Sincerely, Kyrsten Poster: Susan Comment: Affirmative Action helped me. I graduated with a 3.6 gpa from undergrad (4.0 gpa in the sciences). Not one of my white classmates wanted me in their medical school class. The ones who might have or were neutral certainly kept their mouths shut. When I made a higher grade than them, most of my white classmates got so angry I thought they would sabotage my lab experiments. They spent lots of time putting me down in public. Thank God for the other African Americans in my class! All of the African Americans in my class graduated, although some of the whites in my class did not (since the whites didn't have Affirmative Action to help them, who knows what that was about?). If the medical school was intent on making doctors, the group of African Americans in my class met the challenge. Poster: James Comment: Most Americans are already familiar with all the arguments, both pro and con, surrounding the issue of affirmative action. They simply have to decide which side of the issue they come down on. Some of the arguments are profound, some specious, and some may be used with equal effect for either side. Affirmative action is at best a fundamentally flawed, even if well-intended process. At worst it is used cynically to advance racist agendas or to achieve emotional satisfaction. The fundamental flaw is that the process itself requires that someone be rejected for being the wrong race, gender, or ethnicity. It doesn't matter how many other factors entered into the process. At the end of the process, a selection is made that requires acceptance of someone because of his/her genetic lineage, thereby rejecting another for the same reason. The proposed state ballots to strike affirmative action from the public sphere are designed to prevent race, ethnicity, or gender from being either an advantage or a disadvantage in a selection process. A significant majority of voters in Washington, California, and Michigan enacted similar measures into law. These voters are not ignorant racist masses duped by a conspiracy of white-owned mega-corporations (as some proponents of affirmative action suggest). Affirmative action is racism, nothing more. It's fatuous to believe that racism can be overcome by racism, the fundamental tenet of affirmative action. Poster: Working Class White Dude Comment: I am a white male in my fifties who was raised by an ordinary steelworker and homemaker in a working class close-in suburb of Detroit. I managed to eventually graduate from college at 40 years old, with the help of the Reserve GI Bill and my own hard work. At 48, with no financial assistance at all, even though I did not have a full-time job, I earned a Masters degree. I now work for the federal government and make about $50,000 a year including my USAF Reserve duty pay. My story is filled with years of ups and down, toils and troubles, good and bad times. Nobody gave me any affirmative action, just the opposite. When I would happen to be shopping in an upper middle class suburb other shoppers would look right past me if I tried to converse, like I was scum. Store owners would watch me like I was going to rob them. About 10 years ago, I applied for a position in an all-female municipal office in my working class home town. The female supervisor asked me if I would feel comfortable working with all females. I told her I had no problem with it. Obviously if she had to ask, she had a problem with it. Although as a college grad and a Certified Professional Secretary I was qualified over and above the average applicant, I was not hired. Civil Rights laws correctly prohibit discrimination involving race, color, creed, nationality, gender, and sexual orientation. When there is discrimination in favor of any one, there is a corresponding negative discrimination against another. Affirmative action involving race, color, creed, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation is wrong, unjust, and should be ruled unconstitutional and illegal. What is legal in the USA is discrmination involving money. If you don't have money, you are out on the street. Socioeconomic class discrimination is rampant and accepted as just. Discrimination, in the form of affirmative action, in favor of lower economic income people was barely touched upon in your report on affirmative action. Yet this is the natural replacement for race, gender, or other unjust affirmative action. Income and asset based affirmative action is just and will naturally help those of all colors, races, creeds, nationalities, genders, and sexual orientations. The only possible victims of economic affirmative action are those with high incomes and assets. Those victims are shielded by their money. All they have to do is build more private schools for themselves. Their own Ivy League private colleges will ensure there is enough room for their own rich children, who will survive very well in any economy. And, the rich will benefit by guilt reduction since lower class people of all types will be helped by economic affirmative action. Instead of focusing on this money-based solution, NOW focused on those grasping at straws in their attempt to keep the unjust race, gender, and other civil rights based affirmative action in place. Oh, it was not worded properly, too much money for ballot initiatives comes from out-of-state and is related to this or that group. Come on now, if we had more courageous, wise, and independent judges this type of affirmative action would have been ruled illegal a long time ago! Please, these items are not related to the central issue of what is just and fair to ALL. I love NOW, but this week's program obviously was not fair and just. Poster: Leo Comment: Ward Connerly reminds me of those Black slaves referred to as House Slaves. Whatever their White Slave Masters Told Them was Perfectly OK with them. Can Anyone, Anywhere In America Prove That Racism No Longer Exist In American?- ( I Didn't Think So!) It is this exact same denial that lead this America to The Civil Rights Struggle. PRETENDING SOMETHING DOESN'T EXIST doesn't me it isn't still there. How Ironic that all the previous White President Aren't Charged With Removing Racism from America but IF, IF, IF, IF a Black Male Could Ever Become The President In the WHITE House then wouldn't mean that again America has it's quota. America's history runs red with innocence American blood over the same ignorance we're starting to perpetuate by pretending racism is dead When We've Done Next To Nothing To Kill IT! The Goal Should Have Always Been Freedom and Justice For All...The Reality Is Itn't Doesn't Exist Now Have Ward Connerly (I See Has A White Racist In Light Colored Skin) Stop Looking At The Very Few Blacks That Fell Through The Cracks of this System And Look At All The Neighbors In This Country Where The Precentage Of Minorities Suffer Significantly more then the general population. Poster: talljimbo (sfgate) Comment: So Asian Americans earn on average $66,103 per year and White Americans earn on average $52,115? Well, I think there should be an affirmative action for White Americans! NOT! See how foolish this sounds?? Why are Asian Americans earning more than Whites? Probably because they work very hard at getting a very good education. By getting a very good education, they complete better than whites in the job market. So, the answer is for Black Americans to work hard at getting a better education. But there is a serious problem in Black America. It's called the norm of minimal effort. If you want better jobs, you must work very hard to get a good education. Government social programs sap the motivation right out of the Black Culture. Oh, we aren't smart enough to make it on our own, we need a government handout. This is exactly why, in my opinion, that Ward Connerly wants Black America to stand on it's own. If you can't complete, work harder at getting a better education. As far as Obama and affirmative action goes, there shouldn't be a correlation. Note: I am making general statements about Culture here. Not all members of a specific culture act the same, but there are statistical trends within cultures. What is the solution? Vote for the abolishment of affirmative action and hope the Black Culture wakes up and makes the same achievement it does in sports. Oh ya, why isn't there affirmative action for whites in sports like basketball? Poster: Paul Stratton Comment: Affirmative Action is a necessary tool to balance the scales in hiring and college admission. The purpose of government is to make sure corporations and businesses play fairly. Affirmative Action has balanced the playing field. Without it, there is a predictible drop in racial mix among employees and student body. It is sad that in 2008 we still need to debate Affirmative Action so many decades later. If corporations would do the right thing, there would be no need for this discussion. Poster: edith groner Comment: Dear Mr. Broncocio, Thank you for your segment on Affirmative Action and Ward Connelly, the lobbiest. I have just read Thomas Frank's book, The Wrecking Crew: Conservative Rule. It is talking about just the example you gave in Ward Connelly who uses his phony civil rights argument to enrich his business but doesn't admit it. It is the dishonesty of these conservative operators from Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, that people are manipulated by as in Prop.209. Have Thomas Frank on your show. Also, have Stephan Spoonamore, a GOP computer security CEO who has pointed outthe fraud in election voting machines and Karl Rove and Mike Connell and his connection with the McCAin campaign now. See opednews.com article, Aug.23, by wayne madsen , Rove intimidating Republicans into silence. Karl Rove has curtailed any effective investigation of past and present election fraud, as a result of threats and intimidations directed against potential Republican Party witnesses. I hope you have Spoonamore on your show before the election. Poster: dennis Comment: Everyone is created equal, Thats the truth!! Gods word says it!!! But then again we live in a lazy world and we all have choices to try or not to try as hard as others. Rich or poor this comes down to our choices. For the rich you train your children to be succesful and fruitful. To the poor you choose to train your children to be succesful and that takes work. We all have to work to make something for our further generations. Like myself coming from a single parent home.I did not have the money to go to collage.But I discovered that God has givin each man a gift in the work field and its each persons responsability to cultivate there gift in the work place. Seek and you will find, ask and it shall be givin,knock and the door will be opened to you. People God is our answer and the bible illustrates to us on how to become fruitful. A man who does not work will not eat. People eat from Gods word and you will be fruitful. So to tell the remainder of my story. I found my gift in sales, waited many years to learn the fundamentals of sales and coupled it with gods word. Patience and practice and praying came to be my fortune. I own my own Real Estate company now and I am building my future generations children in my blood line and giving my family the oppurtunity to have what I did not have. My children and Grandchildren are my future and through my hardwork they will prosper. I am setting the bar for the future Riley family coupled with Gods word and hard work. You cant go wrong with this formula. So people stop complaining about affirmative action and work and line up your future. If you work hard you can give your children what you never had, Parents its up to you. Your choice and your responsabilty to give your children the best. If your parents are lazy you might be lazy also and if your parents where always big dreamers without being practical then you will be in the same shoes I was in. I beat it with Gods word coupled with hard work. You can do it also. I might not be Century 21 the owner, but my son or daughter or grandson might. It all lies in my hand to begin the foundation and then begin to teach my family. This will bring success to any family. Poster: Hippie Comment: From my experience, you're a little too quick on the draw to pull the race thing out. I've built major construction from shopping malls to oil refineries, and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that race has NOTHING to do with how a man does his job. It's all about safety. Whether a man is a young rapper kid, black or white, or brown or red; If he can, and want's too, we're willing to teach and if they guy is willing to it's been my experience that even the toughest folks are willing to teach and help. If the kid is too cool for school, We don't want them around, and they won't get the good jobs. I'm not trusting my life to someone who takes others lives so callously. I'd think you'll find that most of my fellow workers feel the same, whether they be black, brown, white, or red. For the love of Dog, let us make our calls about who we trust our lives to without fear of some dumbass laws jumping in our way. If you disagree, I challenge ANY of you to get up on the high steel that keeps America moving and tell me that you wouldn't want the best and brightest on the ground supporting you. Poster: Ted Cooper Comment: Once again you have presented your own agenda under the guise of being a factual news documentary. The first time was on illegal immigration in which you chose to ignore the 1995 report by the Barbara Jordan Commission on Immigration, wherein they recommend strong enforcement against illegal immigration. And this time in your Affirmative Action report, you advocate HUMAN HANDICAPPING BASED UPON RACE & GENDER instead of supporting employment/contracting based upon ability & price. By the way, I am a white male Republican supporting Barac Obama, because he understands what you fail to get, ie, fairness based upon ability regardless of race or gender. I continue to find you reports encouraging of divisiveness based upon race. Poster: Herb Barnes Comment: To its great shame the NOW presentation did not utter one syllable about Affirmative Action's most unique distinction. Which is: Under the sanction of law, an American who has met the academic standard of a college, can be denied entry solely because of his skin color. I know of no other law that is so clearly counter to our national values. This is a quota system because college enrollment is a finite number. Because our union choked early education schools have failed minorities we stupidly oppress innocent white kids. We owe ACCESS to a quality early education to all our children. Then when they reach college the color of there skin won't be either an advantage or a liability. It is by understanding that students who gain college entry through AA have extraordinarily high freshman dropouts rates. If this is true, it should have stated in your program rather than questioning Mr. Connerly's motives. Ward Connerly is an honorable American pursuing a just cause. Poster: KRISTA Comment: I AM A 41 YR OLD WHITE FEMALE , MY PARENTS WERE IMMIGRANTS, WITHOUT COLLEGE DEGREES. MY SISTER AND MYSELF DID NOT RECIEVE AND MONEYS OR SUPPORTS FROM OUR PARENTS TO ATTEND COLLEGE, AND WERE NOT INVITED TO , ATTEND COMMINITY COLLEGE WHILE LIVING AT HOME . WE BOTH SUPPORTED OUR SELVES ,ALONE AT AGE 18 , WITH ONLY A HIGHSCHOOL EDUCATION. BOTH OF US WERE EXCEPTED TO COLLEGES AND OR UNIVERSITIES ,RIGHT AFTER HIGHSCHOOL DUE TO OUR GOOD GRADES . I WAS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND ,AT THIS TIME DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS . I STRUGGLED TO JUST PAY MY RENT ON MY APARTMENT , AND FOUND I WAS WITHOUT FUNDS LEFT OVER FOR COLLEGE ,MY JOB WAS THAT OF A PREP COOK , MAKING , 5.25 AN HOUR , I HAD TO WORK OVERTIME IF DEMANDED , SO I COULD NOT KEEP A SCHEDUAL FOR SCHOOL, EVEN IF I WANTED COMMUNITY COLLEGE........ , THE JOB WAS INTENCE PYSICAL LABOR , AND BY THE TIME I GOT HOME EACH DAY , I WAS VERY PHYSICALLY EXHAUSTED. AT THIS TIME , I ALSO LOOKED FOR JOB OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE GOVERNMENT OR COUNTY , AS THESE JOBS ARE OF BETTER PAY AND BNEIFITS , BUT ,EVERY TIME ,I WAS QUALIFIED FOR THIS TYPE , I FELT I WAS PASSED OVER FOR A FOREIGNER OR PEROSN ,OF COLOR , WAS HIRED BEFORE MYSELF , AS TO FILL A QUOTA OR COMPANY WOULD RECIEVE , KICK BACK FROM GOVENRMENT , THIS FRUSTERATED MYSELF OFTEN. HOW DO I KNOW THIS , COOK FRIENDS , OF COLOR WITH SAME TYPE OF QULIFICATIONS , APPLIED AT SAME TIME AS MYSELF ,FOR SAME POSITION AND GUESS WHOM , REICIVED THE POSITION, IE WAS MY FRIEND OF COLOR I WATCHED MANY PERSONS OF COLORS , AND FOREIGNERS ARRIVING FROM OTHER COUNTRIES , RECIEVE , NUMEROUS TYPES ,OF assistance , from paid college tutition , to grants and scholerships , and councelors all types of financial help and moral supports, from community groups ,government , and some corportions, excetera Why was I WAS NOT GIVEN THIS TYPE OF OPPORTUNITY AND I AM BORN HERE IN USA??????? TODAY , I WATCH THE IMMIGRANTS FROM INDIA , RUSSIA , CHINA , BE GIVEN ,ALL THE ADVANTAGES AND OPPORTUNITUES , FOR ASSISTANCE WITH COLLEGE ALONG WITH ........ THE HISPANCIS , PEOPLES OF COLOR , CONTINUE TO RECIEVE ASSITANCE , FIRST , BEFORE A WHITE PERSON I SEE THE ONES WHOM WHO JUST ARRIVED HERE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES , EASILY BUYING A NICE HOME AND HAVING AFFORDIBLITY FOR MANY CHILDREN,as college education in there country was free , so all they have to do is move here , and sweep up the great jobs , that some AMERCIANS CAN NEVER , GET , BECAUSE COLLEGE EDUCATION IS TOO EXPENSIVE HERE . I ALSO NOTICE THAT FOR MYSELF , AFTER A LONG STRUGGLE , WAS ABLE TO GO TO COMMINITY COLLEGE AFTER WORKING MANY YEARS OF 2-3 JOBS AT A TIME , NOW HAVE A ASSOCIATES DEGREE, WHICH TOOK AT LEAST 8 PLUS YEARS TO ACHIEVE , WHEN IF I HAD THE FUNDS TO ATTEND COLLEGE AT AGE 18-19 AND GRADUATED COLLEGE AT 24 ISH , LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH EASIER , THEN HAVING TO WAIT TO GET DEGREE MANY YEARS LATER WHAT AM I SAYING WITH ALL THIS , IS THAT I FEEL DISCRIMINATED AGAINST , AS A WHITE PERSON , AND THE COUNTRY BEND OVER BACKWARDS TO ASSIST EVERYONE , ELSE AND THE AFFERMITAIVE ACTION LAWS DID NOT ASSIST MY LIFE , BUT , HAD ME SIT BY , WITH HANDS TIED AS OTHERS WERE GIVEN ,ALL OPORTUNITIES , TO GET FURTHER FARTHER FASTER , FOR AN EASYER LIFE , WHILE MINE REMAINED A CONTINUIUS STRUGGLE I RESENT THE BLACK PERSON , THE FOREIGHNER , AS A RESULT OF THIS LAW , I AM NOT A PREDUJUDICE PEROSN , BUT , THIS LAW HAS MADE ME ANGRY FOR A LONG TIME IN NO OTHER COUNTRY , COULD I GO AS ANY PERSON , WHITE BLACK , HISPANIC , OR ANY OTHER EITHNICITY AND EXPECT TO GET A FREE RIDE , THIS IS REDICULOUS, AMERICA ,IS NOT FOR THE FREE , IT IS ONLY FOR THOSE , OF COLOR , OR FORIEGNERS NOT FOR ANY OF US WHO WERE BORN , HERE AND HAPPENED TO BE WHITE AND POOR Poster: John Comment: I went to a University of California (UC) school from 1993-1998. I was an engineering major and am Asian. The UC schools, especially the sciences/engineering, generally have a large population of Asian. Because of this and Affirmative Action, a lot of qualified Asians were not accepted into some of the top UC schools and had to settle for a different school. While Asians are still a minority in society, the fact that there were large numbers of Asians at colleges placed them in the same boat as many Caucasians, i.e., they didn't receive the benefits of Affirmative Action. Another example of this selective use of Affirmative Action during my search for scholarships. I was told that I was not considered a minority when I went to get an application for the Women and Minorities in Engineering Scholarship. While I thought I was a minority, I was not a minority in the eye of the school. A third example is that of a co-worker who is Caucasian. He had two friends both of them minorities. All three have similar financial background and grades. They applied to the same school. The two minority friends received full rides while the Caucasian had to take out loans. As an Asian, I have seen the downside of Affirmative Action especially when there is selective use of the rule. I, therefore, strongly disagree with the use of a race based standard to determine who gets into a school or receive certain benefits because in every ethnic group there are those who are well off and those who are not. To lump each person into a group and say that because of your race, you are given an advantage over another race discriminates against those in that other race that may need a helping hand. Is it fair to give the son of rich African American man a full ride to a university when a Caucasian person with the same academic resume, raised by a single mother who makes minimum wage is told that because you are white, we can't offer you a scholarship. This is why race based Affirmative Action is flawed. If proponents of Affirmative Action wants to move to an economics based Affirmative Action, I am all for this because it achieves the goal of providing those who needs the most help the opportunity to go to college and also help with the diversity issue because as many or if not more minorities would be eligible for assistance. Poster: Paul Comment: If you look at the charts one thing is clear. It's IQ related. The higher the IQ, the higher the level of education. The higher the education level, the higher the earning potential. And yes, the more money you have at your disposal the more health conscious you become (such as procuring insurance for your family, etc.) it's all connected. Close the IQ gap and you'll have equal charts and equal representation among the races. The facts are overwhelming and undisputed: the IQ gap is the reason. It is not due to racism as some would imagine. All the efforts and good intentions of affirmative action will never compensate for it. Poster: chris macrae Comment: With regards to creating jobs empowering individuals, affirmative action is a system fix that is often too macro, too late. Disdavantaged youth needs help much earlier, with education needing to be designed around the needs of children not of government. And if government served in communities rather over them then much more micro initiatives would be mapped than averaged demographics at state-wide levels Poster: Dan Stanzione Comment: Mr. Brancaccio, I just saw your piece on affirmative action, and it was the most disappointing story I've seen from you. I live in California and remember when we did away with it. You either did not do enough research, or you were just trying to support your own views. In the years just after the change, the drop in 'African American' students was matched by the increase in 'declined to state'. I suspect it is still similar. Many people dislike to put their ancestry and identity in one of the standard boxes. How do you discern the race of someone else anyway? How about Tiger Woods, or Colin Powell? Do we have to research each family tree to decide if his/her great great grandfather was a slave or not? Or we just going by skin tone here? The time has passed when my grandson should get screwed over because of someone's skin tone or surname. You spent more time attacking the messenger-Connerly-than you did actually examining the downside of affirmative action. Which is mainly its unfairness. Why punish a hardworking and well prepared caucasian kid because of what someone else did 200 years ago? Poster: R. Sakall Comment: While in college with a 4.0 GPA I asked for student aid. I was turned down because I was white. I didn't live at home and worked full time but it was hard to keep that up carrying the the load and working nights. My father worked a a factory with Mexicans so his wages was the same as them except he was white. When I asked the student aid people what I needed to do to get student aid, they told me to change my name to Jose Gomez and I'd get it. While working for the military they grade you on points and depending on what race you are whether you can do the work or not they will give preferential treatment to some races. It's amazing what a disadvantage it is to be white. At TRW I was turned down for a job after working there 18 month on a temporary contract for a minority because the government gave them the money because of lost productivity because of the lesser quality worker. Now I hear that they want to give illegal aliens scholarships. Why don't the country of origin cover them? Fence jumps come here and pop out babies left and right. I saw a girl at church as young as 12 that was pregnant. A good method of staying in the country saying you have a legally born citizen when they came in illegally. Frijoles take on a whole new meaning when you get pregnant by anyone just to get government aid. Boston, Bean town, that has a whole new meaning also and it's not the baked beans. Some cities have condemned whole areas to get rid of gang problems and still some areas police will not go to farther dark.Watching cities of middle income nothing special turn into a gheto with cars on the once nice lawns. Churchs that could be accessed at any time and now the doors are chained shut along with the playgrounds. Razer wire show up on old standard chain link fences. If you live in these areas and have to live and put up with antimalarial on a daily basis. You never see that crime you tell the police even though you know exactly who did what. Then when a innocent bystander is shot and killed the perpetrator is gone to Mexico where they have no extradition on capital offenses. If you go to the police your car ends up with all flat tires. Another lost day of work and extra high fee because they have to come out and replace the tired because that's your only car. At the church last weekend it was clearly one family they all got into the brand new SUV and all the kids and mom were al pregnant. They come every week but tell the works they haven't come thing month and hide behind not speaking English and play stupid when they can. They get enough food for several families but it;s all one family.Over 9 kids and the mother is under 30. The kids are all pregnant too and soon as the can get pregnant to get government aid which helps buy things like a new SUV. Why aren't they paying a none resident fee. When your alone like I am I don't get that extra treatment. They are working and going to school while I put my time in and gave my body for my employer and will suffer until I die. There are such great benefits packages for immigrants that leave the United States citations in the dirt. What do they get preferential treatment for breaking the law entering the country. When you come from countries of graft it travels with you and that's why they are getting better treatment then people born here. When a American from the United Stated live in Mexico with a over stay on a visa they put you in a bad jail. You can't own land but lease it. When you go to jail it cost thousands in bribes to get out. Courts are a joke because they want a cut too. Why can we treat the illegal Mexicans as the country of Mexico would treat us. It's a felony to over stay your visa in Mexico. Here they get a slap on the wrists, a ticket home fo a vacation before the cross the border again. Maybe those chain gangs in the south might enlighten them. Someplace like Angola for several years where they learn to be productive for the state. L.A. needs new roads and levee would and what better and cheaper work force then a bunch of fence jumpers. I won't even get into the collapses of the unions because of the fence jumpers. Then that was a republican scam. Along with putting incompetent people in office to destroy government so that things get privatized. After all the rich all want to oppress the lesser people, selling everything and anything when you don't need a single on the the things they are selling. Then coming up with fancy plans of being patriotic, which is going you a ribbon for what you did. It's the big think tanks scheming to keep people poor to have control over them. Restrict the flow of information as they did in the middle ages to keep people in power, using religion and fear. Poster: W. Kelly Comment: After watching your segment Attacking Affirmative Action, I was moved to write in regards to my reactions of this piece. I will never say that the past playing field in any forum has been even, nor are most in the present, but how can one argue that true fairness cannot be achieved by removing all identifiers of race, creed, nationality, or sex when selecting candidates for any endeavor? By not allowing those things to even be in play, does this not mean that those most deserving and most qualified will be selected? This would be the most even and level playing field ever. To really “...live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Preferential treatment based on someone’s race or sex is by its very nature biased, removing the chance for these things to be considered in education, awarding of government contracts, be they red, brown, black, yellow or white, male or female, but quite simply based on the gifts and skills they bring to the endeavor. If this is still not acceptable let there be a much simpler litmus test, at least in education. Do give preference for scholarships and grants to those most in financial need. That is an action I believe we could all agree in the affirmative needs to be addressed. Those most locked out of chances for better lives are locked out more often from the emptiness of their pockets, not the color of their skin or gender. Poster: Turner Pettway Comment: All the attention is given to African Americans with the assumption they are not qualified for any consideration or competition. What about the White women that benefit from affirmative action as well. What about the children of alumni or the children of business owners continuing the legacy? The amount of business and college scholarships awarded to minority individuals is tiny compared to the amount white people are awarded for various reasons. The campaign appears to be personal, someone had an advantage that a white person could not obtain. For once they were ealed out of something, must they have access to everything, even whenothers don't? Well perhaps they should do as they tell us, work harder and everything should work out. When the program ends I guess we will hear more frustration from white men as their families suffer from under-employment. Their engineer, managemnt and otherwise professional wives may be returned to the secretarial pools of the past. Market factors mean nothing to a person drowning in debt in need of oppotunity. No one keeps a nonperforming employee expecting productivity. Take a dose of your own medicine and seek other opportunities, avoid government sponsored opporunities as you typically consider such contracts waste when awarded to others. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and move to greener grass, stop blaming others for your failures. Produce a better product and you should gain acceptance, we do. Poster: Bob Schultz Comment: I very much appreciate NOW. However, I think that tonight's program was inadequate. It is true that there are many blacks and Latinos in poor schools and that these students from these schools demonstrate talent and ability in different ways. I am white and my sons went to inferior public schools where the students were mostly black. It seems to me that all students from these schools might properly be evaluated differently than students -- whether black or white -- from better schools. I attended inferior schools myself and no one has cut me any slack. No one has cut my sons any slack. Why does it seem impossible for you to discuss this without making it a black or Latino issue? I think it may be because you and your staff -- whatever your race or color -- are where you are either because you went to bettter schools or were advantaged because of race or color or sex. Why was there no representative of the needs of white chilren who go to the same poor schools that blacks and Latinos compain about. If there really were equal opportunity there would be a lot rich children of various reaces who would be looking for jobs after high school. Poster: Jeff Sanders Comment: Just what exactly is Affirmative Action? These initiatives prohibit racial, ethnic and gender preferences by government. So are those preferences what Affirmative Action is? If so why does NOW choose not to use language that simply says as much? The initiatives don't prohibit outreach or attempts to root out discrimination. Try being honest. Poster: Richard Kuzmak Comment: This one-sided presentation is almost a case study in yellow journalism. The producers attempted to smear the campaign against affirmative action by connecting one of the main organizers, Ward Connerly, with large firms(the Evil Meanies of left-wing trash journalism like this) who had won competitive contracts as large as $4 million (yet another reflection of the disingenuousness of the producers). Obviously, economic interests are at stake on both sides of the issue (like Duh...), and let me assure you that there are white males like me who grew up in trailer parks in broken homes without much family support, but who competed successfully ON AN EQUAL BASIS with the sons of the rich to enter and excel at some of the top universities in the country -- without special quotas or funding. We had to. Has it ever occurred by supporters of affirmative action such as Crenshaw that the much lower standards and cosseted treatment minorities have received is one reason why their overall performance has continued to lag? Poster: Tom Comment: Affirmative action should be based on wealth and income, not race. Poster: A.D. Powell Comment: There are two real arguments against affirmative action: (1) Class and (2) Racial Mixture. (1) The champions of affirmative action seem to believe that all whites are either rich or at least financially comfortable. Poor and working class whites don't really exist in their world. That's why remedial programs in universities are limited to certain minorities (defined by blood, not by class disadvantages); it is assumed that all whites are automatically comfortable in a university setting. (2) No one has to prove that he personally suffered discrimination or any other real disadvantage in order to be claimed as an affirmative action prize by a university or employer. All he has to do is prove that he has some ancestry from the official minority group. A Nordic blond who claims to be part-black or is of Chilean origin (via Germany) is a great prize in all affirmative action circles. You get a nice, middle-class white and the government gives you the same credit you would receive if you had admitted or hired a dark denizen of the ghetto or barrio. The story of Anatole Broyard is a good example of how bankrupt affirmative action really is. The man was a white, part-black Creole who lived as white and achieved great financial and professional status. Yet, the black intelligentsia and their white liberal allies claim that he was really black. Anyone who looks white does not need affirmative action, yet they are preferred over the real minorities because they are usually more qualified and similar in culture and looks. Affirmative Action is discredited by its own standards. What more do you need? Poster: John Geddes- knightfall13x@yahoo.com Comment: i would love to know where you are getting your numbers.i happened to be a 38 year old white male, living in Missouri. i recently was given a first hand experience of Affirmative action. i had applied for a job recently with a company that runs a homeless shelter. i was applying for a cooks position, i cited my 22 years of restaraunt and food service experience. i was contacted a week later to be told i did not get the job, but there was an opening in night security. when i had my interview and toured the facilities to learn the work area (if i got the job...which i did not)i meet the man who they hired as a cook instead of me. they had hired a colored man who looked to be in his mid 20's.when did this country and companies move from hiring the ones most qualified for a job, to hiring based on the color of ones skin, or ethnic background. in the past 38 years i have seen Affirmative action do more harm then good. I also decided to go back to college, which i am doing with grants, subsidized and unsubsidized loans. where is the United White peoples college fund? Poster: Karl Nordvall Comment: Attacking Affirmative Action was a timely, well polished show as usual. However, it is disappointing that what began as an honest look at the future of affirmative action in this country turned into a thinly disguised hit piece on the controversial activist Ward Connerly. It felt far less like NOW and more like an episode of NBC's Dateline. For the first time since becoming a regular viewer I can say that I came away no better informed about the issue at hand. You dropped the ball on this one. Next time you address this topic please focus more on the nuts and bolts instead of just the nuts. Poster: James Hall Comment: When the talk is of Affirmative Action it is always about black Americans and Hispanic Americans.Asian Americans seem to never be in these programs;is there some specific reason for this'I think there is and it has to do with what goes on in the home. Poster: Rev. Diane Lacey Comment: As the Chair person of an EEO committee of a public agency who's contracts totalsbillions of dollars in commodities and and building contracts I know how difficult it has been in the close to 20 years this committee was formed to reach 9% of awards to women business owners and And 10% of the awartds to minorities. White male business owners are complaining that they are not getting all the contracts. Is that fair and just? I dont know where that contractor lived but it would have been good to know what the division of awards are in his area. Poster: penny Comment: I am of the belief that it is now time to end affirmative action. At 56 I have seen the struggle and there definitely was a time where we needed this to move our pendulum more to the center....that time has ended. My real concern with giving special treatment to any one segment in our society is that it lowers our overall standards. When we stop looking for the most qualified, the best person for the job and give greater weight based on minorities we do not get the best. If I get sick and need a surgeon or I want the strongest bridge that all our knowledge has engineered I do not care about the diversity of the surgeon or engineering pool. Affirmative action has served it's purpose and now it is time we let....THE BEST PERSON, win. I could benefit from the hand up but that would not feel right to me..if I do not make the mark so be it. Poster: Mr. M. Comment: When racism is spoken about, there is little eloquence provided by public television to curb the believe that it is white people who discriminate. Therefor when we talk about affirmative action we run into all sorts of lies about why affirmative action should be: - a guest on your own show said that a student with a 4.0 couldn't get into college. Really? Really? Because any student with a 4.0 can take a test and get a free ride if they are so inclined. If the school isn't preparing the student with challenging enough classes to pass the test... where do you think that responsibility falls? Do you really believe it is only people of color affected in this way? Really? What about all white communities with equally bad schools? It seems to me its up to parents to teach their children responsibility for themselves, but instead the teachings are -ask government- that is the answer of the poor, the socialist, the communist. This is a democratic society. Work. If you have kids teach them. I would have to agree that affirmative action could be reformed to include all people no matter what color; but the fact still remains that no matter what color or where you live, there will be obstacles in getting qualified and into a college or University. To make rules that in essence give more rights to people of color when some white people living in all white communities with EQUALLY bad circumstances will not benefit from these rules is nothing short of ignorant. Nobody believes that harm was meant with the creation of Affirmative Action, but the idea, without serious reformation, is racist. To extrapolate a perception; -black people are in jail more and in college less because of the white man, so affirmative action is needed to fight this-. Do you really believe this? If so, affirmative action is clearly the answer. But if this is believed, parents are not teaching their children anything but hate. Poster: pbuitrago Comment: I find it appalling that a person like Mr. Connerly with his success now seems to detach himself and criticise a program that probably helped him. This is sad that one of your kind will put obstacles on your way to bettering yourself. Mr. Brocaccio you did an excellent interview and your research found some special interest involved with Mr. Connerly and his firm. Thank you for your conscious reporting. Poster: Jane Wong Comment: I am an immigrant. I came here when I was 21 years old with no wealth and limited English. I did quite well in this country thru hard work and education. I don't believe in Affirmative Action . Everyone should be judged by meritocracy. Poster: Steve Comment: The numbers prove that race has nothing to do with the success of individuals. Specifically, look at the success of the Asian-Americans. I believe that this is due to the family culture of Asian-Americans. Additionally the Asian-Americans do not ask for hand-outs, they simply take care of their own extended family. |
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