About the Speech

A proponent of equal rights for all and special preferences for none, Ward Connerly has been a tireless and outspoken advocate for reforming our affirmative action practices when possible, and eliminating them when necessary, to achieve America's promise of "equal protection under law." He says it is time we stop treating people like jelly beans and stop ensuring certain colors belong in certain boxes.

"With intermarriage, mixed races and immigration, we are becoming too diverse to be mired in the old, divisive boxes of racial identity and stereotypes. 'Black' doesn't equal 'inferior' or 'handicapped' but that's the presumption behind racial preference policies that litter our higher education landscape, and we can't use race to get beyond race. Our obsession with race will keep us from moving forward together on this and so many other important social issues. Only after we overcome this obsession can we "create equal" and begin to truly heal as a nation."