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A Half Century Of Affirmative Action

Roger Clegg reminds us that yesterday, March 6, was ?the 50th anniversary of the first time the phrase ?affirmative action? was used in the civil rights context, in Executive Order 10925, which President Kennedy signed on March 6, 1961.?

He also reminds Washington Times readers of something diligent readers of DISCRIMINATIONS should have memorized by now (since I?ve referred to or quoted Kennedy?s Executive Order 10925 over 25 times, such as here) that

it is clear that the phrase in Kennedy?s document meant taking positive steps, proactive measures ? affirmative action, get it? ? to make sure racial discrimination did not occur, that individuals were treated ?without regard? to race by government contractors. But it did not take activists, bureaucrats and judges long to turn the principle of nondiscrimination on its head.

And stand it ? and President Johnson?s almost identical Executive Order 11246 in 1965 ? on their heads they surely did. As I noted in my one-of-25 posts linked above, under those two executive orders

government agencies and contractors were barred from discriminating against ?any employee or applicant ... because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin,? and they were required to take ?affirmative action? to ensure that all applicants and employees were treated ?without regard to race, creed, color, or national origin.?

Now anyone who attempts to honor the principle advocated by Kennedy, Johnson, and Martin Luther King in his ?I Have A Dream? speech are roundly denounced as racists.

Democrats and liberals, in abandoning the principle of colorblind equality, have also abandoned their own heritage.

Full post as published by Discriminations on March 07, 2011 (boomark / email).