Tulsa World: Affirmative action ban scuttled

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Affirmative action ban scuttled

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 4/5/2008 1:08 AM
Last Modified: 4/5/2008 1:08 AM

Backers say they don't have enough valid signatures to get the proposal on a ballot.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Backers of a proposed state question to end race and gender preferences have asked to withdraw the measure from consideration.

Critics said it would have ended affirmative action in Oklahoma.

Lawyers for Oklahoma City attorney W. Devin Resides filed a motion with the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday to withdraw the proposed ballot measure, State Question 737, from consideration.

Resides, who could not be reached for comment late Friday, was a backer of the measure, which is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The motion to withdraw the measure says backers do not believe that the number of signatures required to get on the ballot has been obtained. To get on the ballot, the petition would need 138,970 valid signatures.

Supporters submitted the petitions to the Oklahoma Secretary of State's Office in December.

The Secretary of State's Office counted 141,184 signatures on the petition but found a large number of duplicate names and addresses.

"Based of the number of signatures delivered to the Secretary of State, the validity rate for the signatures would need to be in excess of 90 percent, which is a statistical impossibility given historical validity rates and the limited time to verify the signatures," the motion says.

The backers "do not want to waste this Court's efforts nor taxpayer money on pursuing State Question 737 when (the backers) are reasonably certain that it will fail to garner the requisite number of signatures."

If it had been approved by voters, the measure would have added a section to the state constitution.

The proposed ballot title says the new section would prohibit "discriminating against or granting preference to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, and public contracting by the state or any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions."

The measure is part of a national effort by the American Civil Rights Institute, based in Sacramento, Calif. The nonprofit organization opposes race and gender preferences and contacted Resides about a possible effort in Oklahoma.

The motion says the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative, which was backing the measure, is filing its final report with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.

"This means that the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative will no longer be a viable ballot committee," the motion says. "Due to the expectation that State Question 737 will fail to garner the requisite number of signatures, the funding for the Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative has ceased and the Okla homa Civil Rights Initiative has no funds to defend State Question 737."

The motion asks that the court allow supporters to withdraw State Question 737 from the court's consideration and future submission to the Oklahoma Election Board.

Rep. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, worked to defeat the proposal. A member of the Black Legislative Caucus, Shumate said he was shocked, elated and excited that its supporters wanted to withdraw it.

"I didn't think this issue really affected Oklahoma," he said.

Barbara Hoberock (405) 528-2465
barbara.hoberock@tulsaworld.com

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

36 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (4/5/2008 8:01:17 AM) Good riddance. Fitting that the petition was withdrawn on a day of remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr.
	Report Comment TRW, Tulsa (4/5/2008 8:11:41 AM) Actually it's not fitting at all - Dr. King was a proponent of racial equality not racial preference... although many people love to pervert his efforts to re-spark a burned out torch!
	Report Comment been there, Jenks (4/5/2008 8:30:46 AM) Discrimination and preferential treatment is wrong no matter what color or gender you are. How about people getting things because they worked hard and earned them?
	Report Comment TURLEYTURD, TURLEY (4/5/2008 8:56:28 AM) DONT GO AWAY MAD! JUST GO AWAY! WARD CONNERLY OUGHT TO BE AWARDED BECAUSE HE SHOWED RACIST OKLAHOMA REALLY IS! GOOD JOB MS. REGINA GOODWIN. YOUR EFFORTS IN THE ATTEMPT TO SHINE THE LIGHT OF DECEPTION PAID OFF!
	Report Comment 100% white , SOUTH TULSA (4/5/2008 9:06:38 AM) If white folk have not accomplished anything more with their lives than to compete with minorities for GOVERNMENT JOBS That is evidence that they have not accomplished much with their whiteness. I cant imagine going to a government office and having to make business with an office filled with 100% crusty white folk. Whites that MUST compete with blacks in government jobs are losers any way. AFFIRMITVE ACTION RULES. I am 100% white folk business owner and this is my words on issue.
	Report Comment OSJ, Tulsa (4/5/2008 9:22:08 AM) GREAT JOB REGINA THIS SHOWS HOW RACIST OKLAHOMA REALLY IS AND HOW MANY OF OUR KIND WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET A QUICK BUCK. GOD BLESS ALL WHO ADVOCATED TO STOP WARD CONNERLY. NOW ALL WE NEED NOW IS NORTH TULSA TO FIGHT TO GET A STORE AGAIN AND STOP SENDING OUR MONEY SOUTH!!!! WE CAN DO IT!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAYOR KT? ARE YOU TRUELY FOR NORTH TULSA? OR DID YOU JUST USE NORTH TULSA TO GET IN OFFICE?
	Report Comment Akili, tulsa (4/5/2008 9:26:17 AM) white folks have had affirmative action all their lives...when is the last time any of you were interviewed by an all black panel...or sought a business loan from a black owned bank. there is nothing more pitiful then a whinning white man...who wasted his preference status. i am a black business owner and i say black folks need to get off their back sides and lift our communities...stop waiting on someone to do it for you. you created black wall street once. The worst mistake of the civil rights movement was to think that it made sense to pull guns on racist white folks and force them to mis-educate your children. Do for self....
	Report Comment JDC, Mid Town Tulsa (4/5/2008 9:29:07 AM) #6 I have never thought of it but your correct. The majority of whites with government jobs dealing with the public at large are sour faced,uncooperative and a general pain in the backside to work with. The minorities especially the blacks Are for the most part, smiling and seem happy to have a good job and are willing to asssit to make the beauracracy less complex.
	Report Comment Paul, Tulsa (4/5/2008 9:57:19 AM) The "Double Standards" & fear of racial slander, has plagued our society to where it isn't safe to live. Dare we face the facts. "Four Things you didn't know about 'Dr. Martin Luther' King: 1. His name wasn't Martin Luther. It was Michael. It was decided 'Martin Luther' had a more prominent ring to it, so he went by that. He never legally changed his name. To this day, he lived and died as Michael King. 2. While working on his dissertation for his doctoral degree at Boston University, he heavily plagiarized from another author who had done research on a subject similar to King's. An academic committee later found that over half of King's work was plagiarized, yet would not revoke his doctrine. King was dead by this time, and the committee ruled that revoking the title would serve no purpose. It was also discovered that King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech was also not his own. He stole it from a sermon by Archibald Carey, a popular black preacher in the 1950's. 3. King was under FBI surveillance for several years (until he died) due to his ties with communist organizations throughout the country. King accepted money from the organizations to fund his movements. In return, King had to appoint communist leaders to run certain districts of his SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), who then could project their communist ideas to larger audiences. A federal judge in the 60's ruled that the FBI files on King's links to communism to remain top-secret until 2027. Senator Jesse Helms appealed to the Supreme Court in 1983 to release the files, so the current bill in the Senate to create the Martin Luther King Federal Holiday could be abolished. He was denied. 4. One of King's closest friends, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, wrote a book in 1989 in which he talked about King's obsession with white prostitutes. King would often use church donations to have drunken sex parties, where he would hire two to three white prostitutes, occasionally beating them brutally. This has also been reported by the FBI agents who monitored King. King was married with four children." always happy to oblige
	Report Comment Paul, Tulsa (4/5/2008 10:08:38 AM) Re:The minorities especially the blacks Are for the most part, smiling and seem happy to have a good job and are willing to asssit to make the beauracracy less complex. Are you kidding me (or yourself)? Yes there's a small number of blacks who are great citizens. They work & carry themselves as respective citizens. They are always welcome. For the most part. This younger generation has no respect for lives,bare no responsibility for children,have become far too arrogant to "ever" work a day in their lives. They want everything handed to them. A majority of this "up & coming generation" is producing the laziest people on the earth & are costing us the American dream. We don't owe them anything & we don't want them in our neighborhoods. We don't want gangs in schools with our children. Quit imposing them on us. Esp. our children.
	Report Comment Paul , Tulsa (4/5/2008 10:17:12 AM) The same goes with gays. Keep them out of our schools & away from our (impressionable) children. A majority of the people do not encourage that sexual 'NO SELF CONTROL' deviant sexual lifestyle. Keep it to yourselves. Quit forcing it on us. In our faces. In our school systems. Freedom is lost if we allow these civil rights groups to step all over us. They want in our schools next to our children. Out of all the catholic priests caught molesting children I've never heard of any of them being heteralsexual. No self control. Like certain people who have several children for $ & bare no responsibility for any of them.
	Report Comment Boilermaker, (4/5/2008 10:23:33 AM) Never understood Affirmative Action thing... Now lets get rid of the Good Ole Boy Bill. You know the bill where you hire your cousin or friend who has no qualifications whatsoever for job; however is hired Just Because. Go Figure. I've worked with folks who have zero college degree or high school diplomas who are pretending to be 'professional' experts. Good God... it's only when you work with them that you begin to realize that they don't know what the heck is going on or what they are doing...hence you were actually hired to do not only your work but their also! Useless telling Boss cause he hired both you and the Idiot. Bang Head Here!
	Report Comment JDC, MIDTOWN (4/5/2008 10:44:30 AM) A majority of this "up & coming generation" is producing the laziest people on the earth & are costing us the American dream. We don't owe them anything & we don't want them in our neighborhoods. We don't want gangs in schools with our children. Quit imposing them on us. Esp. our children. Evidence of what you say is proven every day on the front page of any newspaper in USA, Yet, We are talking about AFFIRMITVE ACTION regarding government jobs. I dont see gang bangers with felonies and cant pass a drug test getting hired to a government job today or tommorrow. Dr. Bill Cosby has tried to address these problems you mentioned within his own race and now Dr.Cosby is considered a racist [That is how bad the problem is you mentioned] The trouble is also the young generation of the white race is addicted to meth and the white trash life style. I joined the Army in 1971 and am a combat veteran of Vietnam. With that said I am an old guy that saw the beginning of this social cacaphony. And if you are an older American you will remember the speech Nakita Kruschev [the boss of the Old Soviet Union] gave at the United Nattions WE WILL TAKE AMERICA WITHIN WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT . The leftist and communist symapthizers [americans] from the 1960's 70"s that created these foundations for America's social failures are responsible for todays troubles. THE USSR BROKE APART IN 1991 and now Russia and the former soviet countries economies are booming. While America and the social policies initiated by the cold war leftist sympathizers have rottened America within in 2008. If you want to see America in a crisis [look at NEW ORLEANS] after Katrina [This will be the entire USA ] if something happens to Obama or a large terroist attack. Not because of the blacks [Just because America has no leaders black or white] and when this happens [not if yet when] our enemies abroad will finish this country. but look at the bright side There are blacks,whites Latinos, gays and all sorts of Americans in the military [with the discipline instilled by military training] all are making good troopers for the most part all America needs is strong leaders as our youth of today are the best that America has ever had The problem is we have no leaders on the horizon from any race. and if not for a 2 trillion dollar injectionof cash from the government [the usa economy would be in ruins] within 36 months [giant problems are on the horizon for the USA] Hopefull it will bring the best out from all races and genders in America [if not/the usa is over]
	Report Comment Brute, Tulsa (4/5/2008 10:50:37 AM) Were these guys in restraints and promised State prosecution would end if they 'signed this document'? Just wait, next week they'll announce the State is dropping charges against those who dare attempt to force the State's hand. The signature validation phase had already ended and there's no reason this measure should not be put to a vote of the people. It changes no law, by itself, just allows the people to speak. Those who killed this don't want you to have a choice. Democracy has died.
	Report Comment Justin, Tulsa (4/5/2008 11:26:51 AM) So this bill is by a civil rights group trying to ban discrimination, and the main people who have a problem with it are proponents of affirmative action? Is that an admission of guilt?
	Report Comment fancy names, south tulsa (4/5/2008 11:40:22 AM) Rep. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, worked to defeat the proposal. Those black folk sure have them some fancy Mulsim names what ever happened to Washinton,Lincoln Jefferson. Its election year. No white politican wants to be labeled a racist except Randy Terrill and the blacks hate the mexicans so they are quite about hb 1804 after the elections are over it will be business as usual the white politicans have to throw the blacks a bone to keep them happy during election year. Ole jubar sure has a fancy name, geeeeez
	Report Comment Paul, Tulsa (4/5/2008 12:24:08 PM) 13 14 I aknowledge the fact that my rant applies to (only a large %) of the affirmitive action abuse. I'd hate to go on about the flip side abuse of the ave American worker by the agluttinous feeding frenzy of corporate greed. Favoritism weighs heavy on the larger scale business also. They just hire & fire supreme court justices till they can enforce to their fancy. Don't expect any change on any bill passed through legislation. They may not wish to enforce the laws that govern. Until we change our govt. Basically take corporate money out of the campaign system. We are only gettiing multy millionaire spoiled brats. The corps now have enough $ to buy both parties. It's a 2 party dictatorship. All candidates are bought & paid for by those who are making record billions of dollars. They will continue to make record billions at our expense. Anyway, if I posted any facts about the grosely elevated dr. K on a K board. The blinded & faithful fans would have whined till the heavens dropped.
	Report Comment Jimmy T, Tulsa (4/5/2008 12:34:22 PM) 14 New orleans is a disaster waiting to happen again!! The beautiful brilliant & bright minds of the US govt is spending billions to rebuild the levy just the same way they failed before. The claen up alone will cost more. Penny wise and pound foolish leaders. Yes Paul hit the nail on the head Campaign reform !!!! Take corporate money out immediately. Let them vote like the rest of us. This govt is a joke. The laws reagrding workers are a joke. The ssespool of these worthless self interest groups is a joke.
	Report Comment jokes on us, tulsa (4/5/2008 12:58:28 PM) comment #20 and the joke is on the citizens and a cruel joke indeed.
	Report Comment Jack Ash, Tulsa (4/5/2008 2:59:23 PM) Well, here in Oklahoma we consider everyone to be green. . Now, all you "dark green" ones: go to the back of the bus!
	Report Comment JIMMY t, tulsa (4/5/2008 3:09:33 PM) 1st our govt forced us to fight communism. In fear that it would spread like a disease over here( & take their paychecks) Now we have a lunatic blow up the trade center. We blow him off & go guard some oil srplus in bagdad. The worst & most sickening part is that these over priced self serving pigs in washington are allowing communists to come in and buy up America (starting with our financial institutions) Were talking communist china
	Report Comment dont forget saudi., tulsa (4/5/2008 3:27:55 PM) #23 Not only the chinese also all the arab countries especially scince they have teamed uo together to drive the US DOLLAR down until it is worthless. and then come to buy up american assets for nothing. it has only started the worst is yet to come thanks to both sides left and right in washington.
	Report Comment Boilermaker, (4/5/2008 5:11:20 PM) #24 Why do you thing the FED bailed out Bear Sterns?! Biggest loans were backed by who do you think....foreign backer Kuwait. If they came running over here and demanded back their $$$ with interest...just think of the CHAOS!! It would be a horrific nightmare. I say so be it. They should of taken their licks like any other business. Now, Fed has to listen to the others ie Merrill Lynch, Citi Bank, etc. Their loans are coming due...where they have to cough it up too...however, they don't have the $$$ either. Something or someone also has to come to their rescue. I just read that the Clintons gross 109 Million. Good God...how the heck does someone make that kind of cash on the book and seminar circuit? $109 MILLION!!! It's going to get really ugly this summer. My dollar charts are looking at bleeding in the red zone.
	Report Comment 60%, usd (4/5/2008 5:23:45 PM) #25 The dollar has lost almost 60% of its value in some currency markets. My business is international I make all contracts in Euros or swiss franks. In 24 months I would rather have a fist full os mexican peso's than a wagon load of usd's most americans dont even know this is going on with our currency. the misery hasnt even started and it cannot be avoided
	Report Comment Paul, Tulsa (4/5/2008 7:34:43 PM) They are selling us out for short "term" goals. Bailing out Bear Stearns is like handing the ceo another pocket full of cash. Why aren't these upper eschelon ceos & self serving politicians ever held responsible for their mistakes? The CEO & his whole flock of fiscal failures should be fired immediately. Geeeezzzzus Chrrrist I'm just a average financial layman & I saw what China did to themselves a few years back. China allowed their growth rate to escalate too fast . They were handing these loose loans out to everybody. The whole world was watching. I can't immagine these ceo's vp's presidents of Banks could be so stupid! It has to be greed. I'm sure you can dig up a ton of outstanding stock shares belonging to these head honchos during this time of crisis. They were patting their own backs.They could easily pay up the "People" who lost their houses in forecloseur. I'm not kidding ..these ceos are making an average of a 400 to 1 increase in sallaries in comparison to everybody else. They are like gods now. Just like these Royal pompous@ss's in Washington. I'm personally worried about the value of the dollar. We need to take only money runs out of politics b4 it's too late

25 of 36 comments displayed. | View All

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.