NAACP’s Bond Sounds Affirmative Action Call

NAACP executive director Julian Bond on Sunday urged states that have abandoned affirmative action policies for higher education to “come back into the Union” and criticized President Bush and his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, for challenging race-conscious admissions.

Speaking at the 94th annual convention of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, Bond praised the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the use of race as a factor in university admissions policies. The Bush administration filed one of the briefs opposing the policy. The court, however, ruled against the use of a point-based system for enrollment decisions, which was used at the University of Michigan.

“The court struck down the points but upheld the principle,” Bond said, adding that the decision “gave legal sanction to what we knew to be morally, socially and educationally correct.”

White House spokesman Taylor Gross said Sunday that Bush has been clear in his position regarding affirmative action. The White House had sided with white applicants rejected at the Michigan schools without endorsing an outright end to affirmative action and has called for alternatives to racial quotas by using race-neutral approaches.

Bond also vowed that the civil rights group would be watching states that no longer use affirmative action policies to monitor their commitment to achieving diversity. He criticized Jeb Bush, the Florida governor, for his One Florida program, under which state universities can no longer consider race or gender in admissions decisions. High school students are instead guaranteed admission if they are in the top 20% of their class.

Jacob DiPietre, a spokesman for the governor, said minority enrollment and student achievement are rising under the One Florida program. “The results speak for themselves,” DiPietre said.