OMAHA, Neb.—Race-based affirmative action programs have exhausted their necessity in the United States, argues Ward Connerly, an opponent of the policy who spoke to an at-times rowdy audience at the University of Nebraska at Omaha last week.

More than 80 protesters disagreed with Connerly at the Feb. 28 event. They held up signs that read "Stop Civil Rights Rollbacks" and "Diversity, Truth, Equality." Connerly had about 10 to 15 supporters in the audience. The event was sponsored by UNO's College Republicans.

Connerly's speech comes on the heels of a resolution (LR233CA) by a Nebraska state legislator, Sen. Mark Christensen, that calls for a "Constitutional amendment to prohibit discrimination or preferential treatment by the state, state agencies, and political subdivisions." This would extend to state universities, which serve the majority of Nebraska's college students.

Nebraska lawmakers will have to pass the measure by a three-fifths vote, or 30 senators, to get the amendment on the general election ballot.

Opponents of the resolution fear that Connerly's many pro-ban tours in Nebraska might lead to gaining the number of petition signatures necessary for the measure to be brought to a statewide vote. Connerly told the crowd here that the language of the resolution read exactly the same as the 1964 Civil Rights Act calling for an end to discrimination.

"Things have changed in our country," Connerly said. As proof, he cited Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, the two front-runners for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, because a woman and an African American man have never before had a serious chance of winning the election.

"The idea that we're institutionally racist or sexist doesn't hold anymore," Connerly said.

Connerly is known for his efforts to eliminate affirmative action while serving on the California board of regents. He also leads the group Super Tuesday for Equal Rights [1], which presses for multiple states to vote on constitutional amendments abolishing affirmative action programs.

Connerly said that for a shift away from affirmative action to happen, it must be in college preferences for admission and scholarships—and these must change from race-based to socio-economically based preferences.

A member of the audience asked Connerly why this shift ought to take place if the greatest number of poor Americans are minorities. He answered that many white Americans still suffer from poverty and that they deserve a level playing field, too.

Another audience member pressed Connerly, an African American, to answer why he opposes race-based affirmative action, as a beneficiary of the practice himself. Connerly did not answer the question despite the crowd egging him on.

"This is going to affect various backgrounds," said Roger Garcia, a UNO student and organizer of the protest. "The fight is definitely going to continue until the vote is cast."

College Republicans member Travis Keiderling, a UNO sophomore, said the crowd was more interested in antagonizing Connerly than "fixing the problem."

"I think everyone should listen to Ward Connerly's message," Keiderling said. "Affirmative action is a form of discrimination." Keiderling was not alone in his support for Connerly and opposition to affirmative action.

"I think that the affirmative actions programs are outdated," said onlooker Brandon Kenig, a senior at Creighton University. "They were implemented in the '60s and '70s."

Kenig said the issue hits close to home. "I came from a single-parent household," he said. It was an economically disadvantaged household, he added. "The only way [for me] to go to college was because of scholarships."

Kenig said an affluent African American friend of his received a full scholarship and that this is why he identifies with Connerly's message of giving socio-economic preferences rather than race-based ones. "You realize the issue isn't race. It really becomes economic inequality," he said. "This drive is just the start to promoting equality with the law."

Some opponents of the bill said that there are still many societal indicators that affirmative action is necessary today.

"We can't depend on people to have a good heart," said Creighton University sophomore Jamal Jackson who protested Connerly's message. Jackson cited historical inequalities as the foundation for injustices today. "Then after that we didn't have equal rights," Jackson said. Society "suppressed our ability to have a sense of equality. Of course we're gonna fall behind."

An affirmative action ban would not just affect racial minorities, said Jennifer Piatt, a senior at UNO. "These kinds of issues affect women as much as minorities," she said. Equal enrollment of women depends on affirmative action, Piatt said. "There are still disparities."

Reznet videographer Princella Parker, Omaha, is a senior at Creighton University in Omaha and a graduate of the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Parker interned as a multimedia reporter at the Fargo (N.D.) Forum last summer. This summer, she'll intern at the Springfield, Mo., News-Leader under the Chips Quinn Scholars program.