Connerly’s Views on Racial Preferences

I am so sincerely pleased to read the refreshing words of truth and justice from brave UC Regent Ward Connerly (letter, July 16). He has the courage to stand up to the ugly rhetoric and antics of affirmative action proponents who support racial preferences and discrimination. Please support Connerly in his righteous quest for a fair platform of competition, in which applicants are not judged by ancestry and skin color but on their achievements, talents and character.

I am a graduate of UC Irvine. I was appalled at the level of discrimination against those who did not include themselves among an official, preferred minority class such as black, Latino, female and, now, homosexual. Although I do have a Mexican grandfather, I have never solicited preferences based upon my race. To do so is degrading, shameful, divisive and appalling. And although I grew up in a poor, single-mom family with little support, on my own initiative I worked to achieve excellent successes in my academic studies and later in my career. Connerly for governor of California!

Alan Scherf

Huntington Beach

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Your July 14 editorial on Connerly was most refreshing. As a “self-designated racial policeman,” Connerly has become the stalking horse for the opponents of affirmative action and a poster boy for people who naively believe that our society can be totally colorblind. His personal view of race is an aberration, not where this country is and how it ought to be.

Connerly’s mixed racial and cultural heritage and his life experiences as a black man should have given him a better feeling of what is important and what is trivial in the world.

Roland J. Davidson

Los Angeles

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If the “corporate bigwigs and military generals” are falling all over themselves to defend “diversity,” then why do we still need institutionalized racial set-asides? It seems The Times’ argument against Connerly’s position turns in favor of it.

Belieu Mureaux

South Pasadena