Affirmative-Action Foe (Ward Connerly) Is Facing Allegations of Financial Misdeeds
Source: New York Times
Ward Connerly, the black businessman who has been the face of the movement to end affirmative action for nearly two decades, is facing accusations from a prominent former ally that he has mismanaged and exploited for his own benefit donations to that cause made by fellow conservatives.
Moreover, a group Mr. Connerly founded to advance government policies that are race and gender neutral, the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, is under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and by the attorney general of California, according to documents and interviews.
Mr. Connerly has faced accusations of profiteering before, as supporters of affirmative action highlighted his salary in an effort to discredit his cause. But this time, the allegations are more detailed and come from another significant movement figure: Jennifer Gratz, the named plaintiff in a landmark 2003 Supreme Court case that struck down a race-based admissions policy at the University of Michigan.
... A businessman and a former University of California regent, Mr. Connerly rose to fame in 1996 as the backer of a successful ballot initiative barring public institutions in California from taking race or gender into account. He later founded the institute and a related advocacy group and continued to call for colorblind government in matters like contracting and college admissions.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/us/ward-connerly-faces-allegations-of-fiscal-misdoing.html
Old and In the Way
(37,540 posts)It's difficult to delineate the difference between conservative political/economic policy and the opportunities for personal economic gain presented to those who promote these policies.
alp227
(32,015 posts)SHARPTON: OK, but you had no problem with people giving points to give contracts when youve got a contract when your company in a racial set aside contract for energy.
CONNERLY: Get your facts right, Reverend.
SHARPTON: Did you not get three contracts. One of them for a million dollars sir?
CONNERLY: No, sir. They went to the California building officials, which was one of my clients. My firm didnt get it. Get your facts straight, Reverend.
SHARPTON: Oh, OK. And your company worked with this contract and you had no problem with that at that time?
CONNERLY: No, not at all. Because the contract.
SHARPTON: For them to get a non-bid contract based on the fact they were a minority company was not.
CONNERLY: They were not a minority company. It is trade association of building departments in the state of California.
transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43713532/ns/msnbc_tv/t/msnbc-live-pm-et-wednesday-july/
video: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46031931/#43662813