Sen. Webb calls for end to government diversity programs

Reacting to recent accusations by the NAACP and the tea party movement calling each other racist, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb reiterated his belief Friday that affirmative action programs unfairly penalize poor whites and should be limited to assisting only native-born blacks still suffering from past discrimination.

Government-mandated diversity programs work against bringing more economic fairness because they have "expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white," Webb, a Virginia Democrat, wrote in a Wall Street Journal column published Friday.

Affirmative action programs that assist black Americans who endured institutional racism for generations should remain in place for those "still in need," Webb wrote. But other government-directed diversity programs should end, he said.

"Those who came to this country in recent decades from Asia, Latin America and Africa did not suffer discrimination from our government, and in fact have frequently been the beneficiaries of special government programs. The same cannot be said of many hard-working white Americans, including those whose roots in America go back more than 200 years," Webb wrote.

"White America is hardly monolithic," he said, adding that there are vast economic and social disparities that make it wrong to treat whites the same when comparing them to other ethnic groups.

Webb's column is in keeping with his comments during his successful 2006 election campaign when he argued that affirmative action programs should only be limited to blacks unless they also offer similar assistance to poor, underprivileged whites. He said four years ago that diversity programs that help all ethnic groups except needy whites are "state-sponsored racism."

He pointed to the history of the South, which he described as a society with a small white elite that dominated both blacks and poor, ill-educated white sharecroppers. The effects of that deprivation are still apparent today, he said.

To bolster his case, he cited a survey by the National Opinion Research Center that reported that in the years 1980-2000, 18 percent of white Baptists and 22 percent of Irish Protestants had college degrees, compared with 30 percent of all Americans, 73 percent of Jews and 62 percent of people of Chinese and Indian descent.

Former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder took issue with Webb's comments Friday, saying the senator has to show more specific evidence than his own opinion that minority groups have an unfair advantage over whites.

"It makes no sense," said Wilder, who was the first black governor in American history. "If this is what you get from friends, God help us from the enemies when they come."

"Are the programs existing today run perfectly? Of course not.... They always need constant monitoring and improvements," Wilder said. "The thing I don't understand is, in the summer of 2010, with the all the problems of race... Why does he do this? I think the burden is on him to explain."

State Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, praised Webb for his column. "Poverty and inequality know no boundary, whether it is geography, gender, race, age or disability," McEachin said in a prepared statement. "We need to provide opportunities so all those individuals can become productive, constructive members of society."

Webb declined to talk to reporters Friday, but his spokesman, Will Jenkins, said the senator believes the column raised "important questions that have to be asked right now."

Webb has no plans to introduce legislation to roll back affirmative action regulations but is hoping to provoke debate, Jenkins said.

Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political science professor, said there are political risks for Webb in raising the issue. Webb faces a re-election campaign in 2012.

"Of course, this is not your run-of-the-mill politician," Sabato said. "He says what he thinks is right, and hang the consequences."

Pilot writer Julian Walker contributed to this report.

Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com