February 2000 Volume 29, Number 2 IMPRIMISBecause Ideas Have Consequences 940,000940,000 Readerrs The Content of Our Children’s Character Ward Connerly Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute WARD CONNERLY, author of a just-released autobiography, Creating Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences, is founder and chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national nonprofit organization aimed at educating the public about genuine nondiscrimination. Mr. Connerly was appointed to a 12-year term on the board of regents of the University of California in 1993. Two years later, he led the successful effort to eliminate the consideration of race, gender, and ethnic origin in the admissions, contracting, and employment activities of the university. In 1995, he became statewide chairman of the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI). In 1996, in one of the biggest news stories of the decade, the initiative was overwhelm- ingly approved by voters. A nationally recognized housing expert and a director of the California Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Connerly is also president and chief exec- utive officer of Connerly and Associates, a Sacramento consulting firm that special- izes in land use planning and development. In February 1998, Imprimis featured his Shavano Institute for National Leader- ship speech, “Back to Equality.” Mr. Connerly delivered these remarks as The issue of character has never mattered the keynote address of Hillsdale College’s more in American society than it does now. And the Shavano Institute for National Leadership content of our children’s character is crucial to the seminar, “Heroes for a New Generation and survival of our nation. a New Century,” on October 11, 1999, in Within the past several years, there has been Costa Mesa, California. He based his address a rash of violence in our nation. Consider the on his latest book, Creating Equal: My Fight following: Against Race Preferences, available from Encounter Books ($24.95). ✔ A young man by the name of Matthew Shepard was brutally beaten to death because n the course of a normal year, I probably give he was gay. about 140 speeches, but there is none that ful- fills me more than the chance to be at Shavano ✔ and with the Hillsdale College family. When I A black man in Texas was dragged to his death Iwas invited to appear, I was offered the title, “The from the back of a pickup truck, solely because Content of Our Children’s Character,” but I was also he was black. given the opportunity to change that title if I preferred something else. I told my staff, “Don’t you dare ✔ Another kills his family, goes into a stock change it, because there could not be a more timely brokerage house and lays waste to several or more appropriate theme than this one.” So, again, human beings. I am delighted to be with you to discuss this topic. A monthly publication of Hillsdale College IMPRIMIS Because Ideas Have Consequences ✔ High school children are using high-powered When someone like David Horowitz, who has rifles to kill their classmates. been identified with civil rights for virtually all of his life, is called a racist in a major national magazine, ✔ In my own community of Sacramento, syna- but gets no apology, and seemingly no one is out- gogues have been burned because of hatred raged about it, then we have a national character of Jews. problem. Of course, the reason for this is that the per- son calling him a racist is a black columnist, and In each instance, we engage in national hand- David was being critical of the conduct of certain wringing about violence and witness outbursts of black people. outrage by politicians who proclaim the need for When candidates for elective office publicly tougher gun control measures and hate-crime legis- proclaim their opposition to de facto quotas and lation. Rarely, if ever, does anyone make the connec- preferences based on race and ethnicity and then tion between these acts of violence and the “culture shy away from supporting efforts to end such poli- of relativity” that has been spawned in our nation. cies, solely because they are afraid of being called Ours is a culture in which anything goes and racists or “anti-minority,” then we have a nation- nothing is absolute. Politicians constantly seek to al character problem. convince us that left is right, east is west, and up is When the President of the United States appears really down. If it gets votes, whatever you want to before a group of Hispanic leaders and states, in the hear–“No problem!” Everything depends on “what most crass political terms possible, “America will the meaning of ‘is’ is,” to quote our soon look like you,” thereby trying to appeal to President. When there is “no con- Americans on the basis of their ethnic identity, then trolling legal authority,” conduct we have a national character problem. considered immoral in another And when the President of the United States time and place is acceptable. can admit that he lied to the American people, but In short, there has been a the American people end up being angry with the profound weakening of our Congress for making an issue of the President’s national character. Yet we see lying–largely because the state of the economy no connection between this fact is good–then we, indeed, have a national charac- and the culture that has evolved ter problem. from that erosion of national char- But, for me, nothing illustrates more clearly acter. We see no relationship the extent to which our national character has between the lack of respect for degenerated than the following incident: human life, as evidenced by the On September 12, 1999, there was a cartoon unbridled number of abor- that appeared in the comic sections of more than tions performed every day in 200 Sunday newspapers. The cartoonist is a 25- America, and the rampant year-old black man, and the comic strip is called lawlessness that has evolved “The Boondocks.” in American society. In the first section of this strip there is a young, Let’s define our terms. black man sitting at his computer. The side Character is about one’s adher- caption reads: “Here we find the radical scholar ence to moral principles, and and future voice of Black America Huey Freeman moral principles are standards of diligently working on his first book. An expansive conduct that distinguish right and thorough text, it will offer a critical from wrong. Moral principles are analysis of the black neoconservative not relative to the political exi- movement and its most famous gencies of the moment. In order champion.” Above the character Huey for our children to have strong Freeman there is the follow- character, they must be taught cer- ing book title: “Ward tain moral principles. And we are Connerly Should cheating them when we fail to teach Be Beaten by those principles. Raekwon the The character of our children Chef with a can be only as strong as the charac- Spiked Bat.” ter of our nation, and currently there The subtitle is, “A are serious problems with regard to Critical Analysis of the national character of America. Black Conservatives.” 3 In the second section of the strip, Huey Freeman I learned about the principle of equality from a is urged to go back to the drawing board and find a professor, Dr. Robert Thompson, a tall, Lincolnesque new title, because the masses will not know who individual. I once challenged the proposition that “all Raekwon the chef is. men are created equal.” I said, “This is phony. I was In the third section, Huey Freeman does, indeed, not born with an equal chance like some other stu- produce a new book title: “Ward Connerly Is a Boot dents in college.” Dr. Thompson replied, “Mr. Licking Uncle Tom.” Connerly, it’s not the reality of equality that matters; Over the past several years, I have learned to it’s the aspiration of equality that really matters. ignore intellectual degeneracy from those who find What’s important is that you and I believe that we are it necessary to resort to name-calling. But it is equal and the nation continues to perfect that idea.” inexcusable in our nation for anyone to incite vio- I learned about freedom and liberty from that lence, to suggest that someone should be beaten uneducated uncle of mine, James Louis, to whom I with a spiked bat. made reference previously. The most disgusting aspect of this incident is Back in 1954, my aunt and uncle and I traveled that this comic strip appears right next to other to Natchez, Mississippi from Sacramento,California. strips like Peanuts and Marmaduke that are We drove nonstop, except for fuel and food. Lodging widely read by our children. My daughter said she was unavailable for people with our skin color, and we cried for two days when she saw this cartoon, could not enter public restaurants or use public because not too many people survive a beating restrooms. My aunt could enter through the side door with a spiked bat. of “greasy spoons,” because her skin was light enough When we sent a letter to Universal Press that she could “pass.” This experience taught me Syndicate, the distributor of this cartoon, we received about freedom and liberty. The memory of what it the following response: “This is satire. We didn’t means to be treated differently because other people intend for it to be a death threat.” have passed a negative judgment on the color of your Forgive me, but I don’t think that most eight- skin is forever etched in my mind.