WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND ON : Civil Rights

Background: Debate over affirmative-action programs and legislation to ban sexual discrimination stems from different views on whether the United States has achieved equal opportunity. Proponents contend that more action is needed to help minorities and women, but opponents charge that such laws may result in reverse discrimination.

President Bush vetoed a civil rights bill in 1990, but in 1991 signed a similar bill making it easier for workers to win anti-discrimination lawsuits and allowing women to sue over sexual harassment and other discrimination in the workplace. He has advocated reversing some longstanding federal policies promoting the hiring of women and minorities. He contends that the Bill of Rights does not protect specific “social services or material standards of living.” When he ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in Texas, Bush denounced the 1964 Civil Rights Act as a “radical” intrusion on states’ rights, but as a U.S. representative in 1968, he voted for the open-housing bill.

Patrick J. Buchanan opposes the equal rights amendment, the 1991 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act and believes there are some jobs that women should be prohibited from doing. He supports the ban on homosexuals in the military and does not support affirmative action. He promises to eliminate all hiring quotas.

Bill Clinton supports affirmative action and the equal rights amendment. He is opposed to the ban on homosexuals in the military. He backs legislation to prosecute hate crimes and promises to appoint judges to the bench who oppose discrimination of any kind. The Arkansas governor has a strong record of appointing women and minorities, but Arkansas is one of two states in the nation that does not have a civil rights law.

Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. supports the principles of the equal rights amendment and an amendment to the Civil Rights Act that would ban sexual discrimination. He opposes the ban on homosexuals in the military. As California governor, he appointed a high percentage of minorities and women to office.