Eleanor Holmes Norton Quotes

Affirmative action is under attack today, not because it has failed, but because it succeeded.

If you recall when [John] Kennedy passed an edict, 'Every person you hire in the Post Office must be African American,' the challenge with that is if all of a sudden, you are hired just because of the color of your skin, ability has nothing to do with it.And if ability has nothing to do with it, what does it do? It promotes mediocrity.

You can't be a minority in this society without having someone express disapproval about affirmative action.

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world.

Affirmitive action is extremely complex because it appears in many different forms.

Daley may not feel a moral responsibility to eliminate discrimination but he has a legal obligation to do so.

I looked up affirmative action once in Wikipedia, and it said, 'A measure by which white men are discriminated against,' and I got so mad.

Affirmative action was always racial justice on the cheap.

If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them on the same plane.

It is the policy of the state [of New York] that the American ideal of equality of opportunity requires that students ... be admitted to educational institutions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, or national origin.

Racial preferences are dead. All that is required now is to give them a decent and honorable burial.

Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability

We suspect that 25 years from now the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary.

The racial inferiority doctrine is beginning to come into disrepute with people of higher education and is no longer supported by the press or by leading public figures

In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race.... And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently..

Affirmative action is not something that the World Bank believes in or promotes.

Affirmative action is the most important antidiscrimination technique ever instituted in the United States. It is the one tool that has had a demonstrable effect on discrimination... Affirmative action, by all statistical measures, has been the central ingredient to the creation of the black middle class.

I think that affirmative action programs can be very important.

To abandon affirmative action is to say there is nothing more to be done about discrimination.

Most clubs say they will not tolerate any forms of discrimination - that cannot be something that is just said. It needs to be acted on.

It's undeniable there's been remarkable progress for African-Americans in this country. They've been elected senators and governors and running major corporations. But obviously we still have a long way to go.

The fact is that in too many parts of our country, we still have discrimination. And affirmative action is not just something that applies to people of color. Some people have a mistaken view of it in America. It also is with respect to women, it's with respect to other efforts to try to reach out and be inclusive in our country.

When I went to law school, nobody heard of civil rights.

I have known Trent Lott for 20 years, ... I don't believe he's racist. But he must proactively send a message to his colleagues in the Senate and the American people that he is absolutely opposed to any segregation in any form and racism in any form and discrimination in any form.

Indicate which principles you support regarding affirmative action and discrimination. 1. The federal government should discontinue affirmative action programs. 2. The federal government should prosecute cases of discrimination in the public sector. 3. The federal government should prosecute cases of discrimination in the private sector.