Fighting the Connerly Machine
Stating that the NAACP-LDF is the only organization fighting Ward Connerly is a huge misstatement. The NAACP fought him in California, Washington state and in Michigan, and we have laid plans to fight him elsewhere (see “Fight or Flight,” Aug. 23).
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition organization which was founded by the NAACP, has been strategizing against Connerly since he announced his new forays into these states. Connerly’s activity poses a real challenge for the civil rights community and all Americans who believe in fairness, but it is simply wrong to write that the civil rights community is ignoring him.
— Julian Bond, NAACP Board Chairman
As a national organizer for By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), I can personally attest to the fact that BAMN has been aggressively and creatively fighting to defend affirmative action across the country since 1995 (see “Fight or Flight,” Aug. 23).
Since BAMN is mainly a youth organization (in terms of its membership and leadership) and is considered radical and militant in its tactics, the mainstream press and civil rights establishment always seem to overlook (how convenient) the crucial role we have played in this debate over the past decade.
BAMN served as a co-defendant intervener in Grutter v. Bollinger — representing the young Black, Latino and Native American students of America who were impacted by that decision. In fact, BAMN presented the vast majority of testimony during the Federal District Court bench trial in Grutter. BAMN continues to fight to nullify Proposal 2 in Michigan as well as defeat Connerly everywhere he decides to raise his ugly and divisive head.
— Adam Lerman, BAMN Los Angeles ?
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