Op-ed written by Robert Steinbuch
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, mostly with the support of congressional Republicans. Recognizing that we had two distinct populations at the time, Johnson also issued an executive order (extending one that President John Kennedy had put in place)—as a temporary remedy—requiring government contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” Johnson was right to do so then.
But during the last six decades, our great nation has changed dramatically. For sure, racism still exists, but no longer is this country racist. And the perverted version of quotas that perhaps inevitably grew out of Johnson’s well motivated limited executive order was never good and must stop.
Some favoring continuing race-and-sex-based preferences argue that because we’ve had discrimination for over 300 years, 60+ years of progress isn’t enough time to countermand it. Putting aside the obvious flaw that discriminating isn’t the cure for prior discrimination, these affirmative actioneers fail to grasp that much like with technology, human progress is exponential. Opponents are right that we haven’t made 300 years of progress in the last 60+ years. We’ve made multiples of that! (And we continue to have powerful state and federal anti-discrimination laws to address specific instances of wrongdoing.)
Since Johnson, the legal landscape has transformed dramatically. The Supreme Court declared affirmative action illegal in higher education (citing my coauthored publication “Mismatch and Bar Passage: A School-Specific Analysis”). And President Trump issued executive orders rescinding President Johnson’s imposition of affirmative action, because Johnson’s order never was intended to resemble the permanent quota system that affirmative action has metastasized into.
Trump commanded the federal government “to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements,” and “to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”
Our society well recognizes that those considering the complex matrix of merit shouldn’t evaluate individuals based on their skin color or sex. Those determinations should be made on the individual circumstances and efforts of each candidate. To do otherwise is to engage in the very racism that we fought so hard to eradicate.
It’s time for Arkansas to catch up with the Supreme Court and President Trump and eliminate the state-sanctioned discrimination of preferential treatment. And that’s precisely what state Senator Dan Sullivan’s SB3—the bill to end race and sex preferences in Arkansas public entities—would achieve.
Sullivan first introduced his bill to end affirmative action in Arkansas government four years ago. Two years ago, his bill passed the Senate State Agencies Committee, the full Senate, and the House State Agencies Committee. But the bill died on the House floor, sadly, because many House Republicans failed us.
Maybe two years ago, Sullivan’s bill was still ahead of its time. It certainly preceded both the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision and President Trump’s bold actions. Now SB3 is riding the national political tsunami created by the Court and Trump, and Republicans in the Arkansas Legislature just need to say yes to this nationwide-political movement demanding the elimination of the scourge of race-and-gender quotas, set asides, and preferences. I trust they will.
Remember, your voice matters. Contact your legislators to let them know that you expect them to support SB3.
