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Briefs - Affirmative Action |
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quotes are by General Wesley Clark unless otherwise identified |
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Excerpt from Reuters.
Clark Defends Democratic Credentials in New Hampshire
September 26, 2003. |
| "I'm
going to bring a lot of new people into this party, and
together we're going to move forward. I'm pro-affirmative
action, I'm pro-choice, I'm pro-environment, I'm pro-gun
safety, I'm pro-health…” |
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Excerpt from Meet the Press
June 15, 2003 |
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I’m in favor of the principle of affirmative action.
Whether [the University of Michigan’s affirmative
action plan] is the right plan or not, and whether that
should be 10 points, not 20 points, whether it should
be, let’s say, an income level cutoff there at
which you don’t get the points if you’re above
a certain income, you can tool with the plan. But …
you can’t have a society in which we’re not
acknowledging that there is a problem in this society
with racial discrimination.
There is, there has been and the reason so many of
us filed [an amicus brief in support of the University
of Michigan’s affirmative action plan] is we saw
the benefits of affirmative action in the United States
armed forces. It was essential in restoring the integrity
and the effectiveness of the armed forces.
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Column from Detroit Free Press Inc. BY WESLEY CLARK
Success of military diversity proves affirmative action
works
October 24, 2003
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| When
I left the military and contemplated entering political
life, many issues led me to find my political home in
the Democratic Party. Affirmative action was one of the
most important. This is an issue that Democrats both understand
well and feel deeply. And, based on my experiences, I
believe without hesitation that we Democrats are right
in our belief that affirmative action is good for all
Americans. |
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Growing up in Little Rock, I saw firsthand the
ugly legacy of racial discrimination. After the
local schools were closed because of the battle
over desegregation, I had to go to a school in
Tennessee for a year. For all of us in Little
Rock, Central High School is a shrine to that
struggle to end racial segregation. But the end
of segregation did not mean the end of discrimination.
Racial hatred has deep and pernicious roots in
our nation's history. It is a cancer that needs
to be cured, and affirmative action has been one
of the most effective treatments.
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There
is one thing the opponents of affirmative action have
never wanted to admit: It works.
I know this firsthand from my 34 years in the United States
military. Affirmative action was essential to creating
the diverse officer corps we need to defend our country.
Throughout my career, I have seen the benefits of seeking
out qualified minority candidates for leadership positions
-- and I am a beneficiary of their leadership.
In the University of Michigan affirmative action case
this year, I joined military and political leaders in
an amicus brief affirming my deeply held belief that policies
combating discrimination are essential to good order,
combat readiness and military effectiveness. As a result
of these policies, the military is one of the most integrated
institutions in America. And our country is safer today
because it is defended by a diverse, integrated, talented
military that is the envy of the world.
It was not always so. In the years immediately following
President Harry S Truman's courageous decision to integrate
the military, there was still racial tension in the ranks.
The Marines witnessed racial violence at Camp Lejeune,
N.C. The Navy experienced trouble on board the USS Constellation,
the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS Hassayampa. Twenty years
later, I saw firsthand the demoralizing effect of the
racial divide between the officers and their soldiers
and among the soldiers themselves.
As we stated in our amicus brief: "The painful lesson
slowly learned was that our diverse enlisted ranks rendered
integration of the officer corps a military necessity."
Affirmative action was crucial to achieving that integration
and reestablishing a sense of justice within our Army.
The military is, in many ways, a microcosm of our society.
That is why a group of former military leaders cared so
deeply about the U-M case. The achievement of a diverse
student body at a university, like the achievement of
a diverse officer corps in the military, will make Michigan
a better, more well-rounded, more just institution.
My commitment to affirmative action is based on my belief
in all that unites mankind. But I am also committed to
affirmative action because it works.
Our president, on the other hand, seems unable to pull
himself away from his right-wing advisers long enough
to examine the facts. The Bush administration argued against
affirmative action in the Michigan case. And they've done
everything possible to undermine diversity, not promote
it. I think Bush should head down the hall and talk with
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, or speak with
Gen. Colin Powell, both of whom have testified to their
support of affirmative action.
Conservatives say they are opposed to affirmative action
"on principle." They invoke "quotas"
to scare people into thinking they will lose their place
at the table. But this is a pessimistic view of America's
future.
If we make room for everybody, there will be more room
for everybody. An integrated America, where each and every
American is treated with the same dignity and respect,
is a better America for everyone.
Until that day arrives, every day the thousands of small
and not-so-small judgments, discriminations and insults
that some Americans must endure is an affront to us and
all we stand for. And we are not going to remedy these
injustices by ignoring them.
Democrats have always believed that our diversity is our
greatest strength, whether in our schools, our workplaces,
our government or our courts. Unlike the ideologues who
deny the facts and denounce affirmative action, we will
work for an America where everyone has a chance to contribute
-- and receives the respect each and every American deserves. |
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Amicus Brief To the United States Supreme Court,
February 19, 2003 |
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Based on decades of experience, amici have concluded
that a highly qualified, racially diverse officer corps
educated and trained to command our nation’s racially
diverse enlisted ranks is essential to the military’s
ability to fulfill its principal mission to provide
national security.
The primary sources for the nation’s officer
corps are the service academies and the ROTC, the latter
comprised of students already admitted to participating
colleges and universities. At present, the military
cannot achieve an officer corps that is both highly
qualified and racially diverse unless the service academies
and the ROTC use limited race-conscious recruiting and
admissions policies.
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Excerpt
from WCGU-FM interview on
Sound Off with Sasha,
June 27, 2003 |
“I'm
a believer in full equal opportunity. … I don't believe
in glass ceilings for women. … We need that talent
and that energy and that creativity in America in whatever
way that women want to live their lives. You know, I'm
for it. If they are stay-at-home mothers, I think that's
wonderful. If they're career professionals, that's great.”
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