OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Voters in all but one of Oklahoma's 77 counties approved a constitutional amendment that wipes out affirmative action in state government hiring, education and contracting practices.
Complete but unofficial returns from Tuesday show that Adair County in eastern Oklahoma was the only county to oppose the measure. And the amendment narrowly failed in Adair County, where the measure lost by just 53 votes.
The remainder of the state overwhelmingly backed the ban, with the most enthusiastic support coming from Canadian, Kingfisher and Major counties.
The GOP-controlled Legislature voted in 2011 to send the proposal to a vote of the people. It did so over the objection of Democrats who maintained it was designed only to stoke racial tensions and drive conservative voters to the polls.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Comments
I feel this isn't as bad as
I feel this isn't as bad as it sounds. It make the playing field level so that anyone can apply to a job without having to count in the race card. It allows those who are more qualified to take the job get the job. I don't think anyone should be counted as their race. Experience in the field speaks louder than words.
Maybe ready???
I feel that this amendment could go either way. There has been a lot of talk recently about whether or not it is time to repeal affirmative action. I personally, do not think that we as a community has advanced enough in the past 50 years to drop affirmative action, but i feel that it needed to be tested. Without anyone taking of the training wheels to equality we will never know if we are ready to ride the big bike and this may be the experimental trial we need to determine such things.
However, in addition to this, it is still largely obvious that racism is rampant in the United States and if we begin to break down such safety nets everywhere there could be dire consequences. Even if the amendment in Oklahoma simply proves that we are not ready to repeal such laws, it could be too late before it is realized and many aspiring minorities might be shut out to less qualified whites in certain industries and areas.
Whether or not this amendment has come to soon, it is an inevitability and will hopefully shed light as to how far we as a nation has truly come in equality.