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What Makes a Real Man: An Interview with Ward Connerly
The affirmative action foe discusses moving beyond skin color and focusing on the content of one's character.
Most Americans passively accept the policy known as “affirmative action” — i.e., state-sponsored discrimination against their fellow citizens — but this could never be said of Ward Connerly. Mr. Connerly, the founder and president of the American Civil Rights Institute, has led the public fight against race-based hiring and promotional practices for over fifteen years. Previously, he served a twelve-year term as a member of the University of California Board of Regents. His tenure coincided with the board voting in 1995 to terminate racial preferences in regards to student admissions. His victories are numerous but none more significant than the 1996 passage of Proposition 209 in California. The release of his latest book, Lessons from My Uncle James: Beyond Skin Color to the Content of Our Character, is what occasioned this interview. He is also the author of Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences.
BC: Congratulations, sir, on your latest book, Lessons from My Uncle James: Beyond Skin Color to the Content of Our Character. It reminded me very much of Clarence Thomas’ My Grandfather’s Son, which you reference in your narrative. Your uncle, James Louis, was very similar to the daunting figure that still looms over Justice Thomas. Do you think that such men are extinct today?
Ward Connerly: I believe they are not extinct, but they are clearly endangered, primarily because we place so little value on being what Uncle James regarded as a “mane.” Over the years, our society has essentially neutered manhood to the point that men like James Louis are made to appear to be creatures of the past. Modern-day men are expected to express their “feelings,” be politically correct in what they say, and not give deference to women in such matters as opening doors for them. All of these attributes have served the purpose of reducing the stature of bigger-than-life men and diminishing their influence in their own families.
BC: James Louis was not related to you by blood. What inspired him to make the sacrifices that he did?
Ward Connerly: Uncle James always said, “Your word is your bond.” When Uncle James told my mother that he would take care of me in the event of her death, his commitment became an unalienable obligation, simply because he had given his word. Moreover, James Louis seemed to thrive on being responsible. Accepting personal responsibility to feed, clothe, and house your family and take care of your dogs went to the core of who he was and of being a “mane.”
BC: James would be excoriated on Oprah and The View over his stoicism in regards to emotion. He didn’t go around telling everyone he loved them. Indeed, he said, “I’m here with you, ain’t I?” to such questions, but was his love more legitimate due to its being tangible and not solely rooted in speech?
Ward Connerly: I believe it was. In his view, if you didn’t show your love by your deeds, then there was reason to doubt it. In a sense, I believe he thought that words seemed to discount the value of his love. In short, he would have said, “Bert [his wife], if I have to tell you that I love you, I must not be carrying out my responsibilities as a ‘mane.’”
BC: Uncle James called common sense “mother wit.” He had it in abundance. Do you think that the reason so many politicians and journalists are devoid of it has to do with its being so “common”? In other words, is it the exact opposite of Occam’s razor, whereby they reject common sense because it is not something you need an advanced degree to express?
Ward Connerly: Well said! Politicians, journalists, academicians — the elites, if you will — devalue basic instincts, self-evident truths, and the traits that are common to us as human beings. They seem to believe that all life can be defined and measured by our analytical powers instead of common sense. Even animals have their own “systems” of behavior and are governed by those inherent systems. Uncle James believed that human beings do as well and that they should rely on them. To him, “too much learning” often got in the way of “mother wit.”
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Bernard Chapin wrote Women: Theory and Practice and Escape from Gangsta Island, along with a series of videos called Chapin’s Inferno. You can contact him at veritaseducation@gmail.com.
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22 Comments
1. Nosinin:Mr Ward Connerly! I LOVE your uncle James! My father had 6 daughters. He instilled in us that we would make our OWN way. We would be educated, work hard and be able to support ourselves. If we happened to find a mate, great but we would not learn to depend on it. If we wanted the newest clothes (or any that weren’t hand me downs!) we got a job. I have worked since I was 16 years old. He was not a wealthy man but he did scrape enough to put us all through college. He told me early on “do not depend on the government for social security” He brow beat me into putting money in a 401K starting at age 22 (30 years ago) yearly when I was making less than $9/hr as a registered nurse. Of course a great deal of that is now gone and I fear there won’t be enough time to make it up. Thankfully, I don’t require ‘things’ to be happy. I do now have a great mate (I married at age 46!)I have a great family, a secure job, great friends and the feeling that all will be well, I can make it through this. Thank you for sharing your Uncle James with us!!
Mar 6, 2009 - 3:50 am 2. Craig:“It is equally true that the more a group of people perceive themselves to be oppressed, the greater likelihood there is that such a group will embrace racial or religious solidarity when it comes to casting their vote for “one of their own.””
Can someone frame that statement? And maybe hand it to Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Spike Lee.
Mar 6, 2009 - 4:28 am 3. Mary Grabar:I wish I could have every one of my college freshmen read Mr. Connerly’s book. I wish I could have them all hear Mr. Connerly speak.
Mar 6, 2009 - 4:50 am 4. Larry J:James Louis reminds me in many ways of my father and my brother-in-law. I don’t know about “mane” but one word immediately comes to mind to describe people like this – MAN.
Mar 6, 2009 - 6:49 am 5. BackwardsBoy:Outstanding! This article is proof that, despite the deliberate debasing of the notion of manhood by feminists, real men still exist.
Mar 6, 2009 - 6:56 am 6. Lynn B.:I love Ward Connerly!!!! I have owned and operated a construction company for 20 years. I “earned” the respect of my fellow carpenters by WORKING and not by jumping on the affirmative action train. As the ONLY female at most job sites it wasn’t easy, but I was determined to earn the respect of my peers. Affirmative action doesn’t make one stronger as a human being or promote self respect, earning the right to be where you are does.
Mar 6, 2009 - 7:03 am 7. JFM:What is affirmative action for?
I will tell you what is for. Before affirmative action when an African American applied for a job requiring an engineer degree the employer knew he was as good as a Caucasian with similar qualifications and probably had had to work harder and had more of the right stuff. Thus he hired the African American. Now employer doesn’t know if he has a real engineer in front of him or one got the degree because of his skin and doesn’t know how to integrate x**2dx. What do you think he does? He gives the job to some white kid who happens to be the son/daughter of an affirmative action activist. Tht is and has ever been the real goal of affirmative action: cast a shadow upon achievements of African Americans and keep them down so they don’t compete with the offspring of affirmative action activists.
Mar 6, 2009 - 8:43 am 8. NMSC:Good interview but I don’t get the similar disdain for anti-discrimination measures for women. Especially considering the fact that we are in the midst of the largest slave trade in history – the slave trade of women and girls. And since the most common hate crime in our country is gender based crime, I’d say there is still plenty of evidence we have discrimination problems with women. Imagine if, while the black slave trade was still going on and lynchings were conducted in the thousands, we said, “Banish affirmative action for blacks! Blacks are equal, can’t you see?!”
It’s pretty silly to suggest women are treated equally while this stuff goes on all over the world. But I agree that affirmative action for black men is pretty ridiculous.
Mar 6, 2009 - 11:51 am 9. Cybergeezer:Ward is more of a “Minority” than most minorities. A spectacular example of what some one can accomplish with individual temerity and perseverance. He should be in Steele’s position.
Mar 6, 2009 - 4:14 pm 10. Mike Blackadder:Also an example of the exact person the Obamanation wants to destroy. After Rush, he’s next.
Sounds like a good book. Unfortunately, after imagining a James Louis presidency we’re bound to be disappointed by any actual republican leader.
NMSC: Discrimination against blacks has not disappeared either. That doesn’t make affirmative action a good policy.
It is morally wrong. It is a policy based on cynicism. It perpetuates discrimination (as argued in #7 above) and it perpetuates a sense of victimization – which is not a great formula for personal success.
Lastly I think your analogy to black slave trade is a poor one. The abolition of slavery, the civil rights movement and today’s American Civil Rights Institute are all movements in the same direction (to eliminate discriminatory laws in the United States).
Mar 6, 2009 - 5:14 pm 11. momof3:NMSC, since you mentioned hate crimes, what ARE they? How can murdering someone be any worse than murdering someone, whether it’s for the $5 in their pocket or because they have a vagina? At what point did it become ok to punish people fir thoughts they might have in their head? Rhetorical question, I know how they’re defined and when they came about, I just think it’s assinine.
Sorry, that was totally off topic. If more people were like Ward Connerly, there’d be no NEED for affirmative action because there’d be no prejudice. Too bad few in the black community will listen.
Mar 6, 2009 - 7:18 pm 12. James:“America would be a nation in which the government would not distinguish one citizen from another based on skin color or race or ethnic background. Everyone would have equal rights and equal responsibilities. America would have no tolerance for illegal entry into our country, but once you became a citizen you would be treated like everyone else”…unless you’re a woman, in which case you’d be either despised, feared or treated like dirt.
Get over yourselves, boys!
Mar 6, 2009 - 11:32 pm 13. anon:~ ~ ~
Mar 6, 2009 - 11:32 pm 14. Confused in Virginia:Great interview. It is sad that there are few people nowadays who truly believe that their word is their bond. Most people who say they believe that, when what they mean is that their word is their bond when it’s easy or convenient, but when things get difficult, they go back to taking care of number one first.
There are those of us who believe in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay; however, we have to be very careful to balance that with union rules – even the unwritten one of not doing more than is absolutely necessary.
As to keeping or getting rid of Affirmative Action, I don’t think it really matters that much anymore. We are now a land of victims. If we are denied anything, it could not possibly be that we are unqualified or undeserving, so it MUST be that we are – fill in the blank – a minority, a woman, too tall, too short, too young, too old, etc. With that kind of mentality, how will we ever get to the question of content of character?
Mar 7, 2009 - 4:09 am 15. Marc Malone:I saw two comments here railing about discrimination against women. Are you trying to say women need affirmative action? Are they actually inferior so as to need such preferential treatment? What are you thinking?
Mar 7, 2009 - 1:30 pm 16. Marc Malone:Common sense refers to the old system of nobility. The lords lived in the manors, while the peasants lived and worked in the commons (communal areas), thus, “commons’ sense”. Even then, the elites had their own twisted sense of things, devoid of common sense. It is always about working the system, rather than making the system work.
Mar 7, 2009 - 1:36 pm 17. Nedarc:Ward is a blessing to a lot of us white people looking for common sense from other races. God bless you Ward.
Mar 7, 2009 - 6:52 pm 18. James:“Ward is a blessing to a lot of us white people looking for common sense from other races”. “I saw two comments here railing about discrimination against women”.
Why is color/gender definition so important to you guys? And why do you most of you assume that the people who come here are “white people”?
Mar 8, 2009 - 12:43 am 19. anon:Agreed
Mar 8, 2009 - 12:44 am 20. JackT:It’s funny how white people never had a problem with discriminating against blacks, but as soon as you talk about preferential treatment to make up for centuries of black oppression, they cry reverse discrimination. I can do it to you, but don’t do it to me. And btw, I seriously doubt if women will ever be free.
Mar 8, 2009 - 7:23 am 21. Sir Milk Snow:18. James “And why do you most of you assume that the people who come here are “white people”?”
Reply – yo, why u gotsta axe a kweshun like dat for?
Mar 8, 2009 - 9:12 am 22. momof3:JackT, I am part native american. I demand that you give up your land and every penny you or your parents or family ever made, and set sail at once. You are here illegally. I am also part Irish. We underwent plenty of discrimination when we first came. Who’s going to pay us? Quite whining about the past and get off your ass and do something today!! And what do you mean you doubt seriously women will ever be free? Did I somehow fail to notice I am incarcerated? No, that’s right, I am too busy living and doing what I want to do to remember to be a perma-victim.
And another little point forgotten by blacks when they cry reparations and affirmative action-it wasn’t white people hunting down and catching blacks in africa for slaves. It was OTHER AFRICAN BLACKS doing it for money. They caught them and sold them. So much for the “glorious african heritage” nonsense.
Anyone not pleased with their current life is free to move themselves up in the world, or leave.
Mar 9, 2009 - 11:18 am