Rating: 
Summary: Fighting the Injustices of the Civil Rights Industry
Review: A powerful portrayal of the violent, hate-based, anti-white underbelly of the civil rights industry in Amreica, woven neatly into the autobiography of a black man struggling for true racial equality. Here is clear and convincing evidence of the trials and tribulations a man of color is forced to confront, when he seeks "justice for all" in the one-sided, Europhobic world of "race norming" and "Affirmative Discrimination" in America. Ward Connerly, tells how he was successful in eliminating institutionalized racial preferences in some cases -- but at great cost. Connerly is reviled by the gimme-gimme crowd headed by the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who view racial controversy as an opportunity to accumulate enormous personal wealth. Connerly writes that Jackson has called him "strange fruit," among other things. It seems many so-called civil rights leaders take advantage of every opportunity to thwart Connerly's steady march toward racial justice. In the Spring of 2001, Justice Clarence Thomas warned: "By yielding to a false civility, we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us. Active citizens are often subjected to truly vile attacks." So it was for Ward Connerly, but his courage overcame the fascists' attacks. This book takes the reader along on a journey to justice with Ward Connerly -- a brave and honorable man.
Rating: 
Summary: A Man of Honor, by fermed
Review: As a resident of California I have voted consistently for propositions which would eliminate discrimination based on race. It seems like a simple decision to forbid the government from racial discriminations, whatever their appearance. I had, of course, heard of Ward Connerly and his leadership in keeping such discrimination out of the higher educational system; but I had not read his book until recently, and once more I was amazed and infuriated by what the Left (Maxine Waters, The Reverend Jackson, and the rest) does to those who cross them. Amazed and infuriated that a man of principle would have to put up with attacks on his probity and his integrity. Mr. Connerly's contention that no one should be excluded from higher education in California because of skin color is not in the least revolutionary: and yet his attempts to try to institutionalize such a principle have brought him personal insults and the overt hatred of those wanting to keep a system of racial preferences. A system that humiliates blacks and Hispanics and excludes many Asians. Racial preferences are a form of telling minorities that they are too dumb to compete, too lazy to sustain themselves in a higher education system, and too unmatched intellectually to be compared to the rest of the population. It is also a way of telling others (whites and Asians) to go seek their education elsewhere. This book, aside from being a delightful history of one man's rise to the top, is also a practical manual on the politics of intimidation and deceit with which the Left treats those who dare speak the truth, if such truth is at variance with their plans. I am sorry that decent and honest people like Ward Connerly are forced to live through the horrors that the Left keeps in store for individuals like him who speak out, and who then try to implement their ideas. In the end Connerly will continue to be victorious, of course. It is just a pity that so much pain is involved in actualizing his honest and sound ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: From the first chapter--describing Connerly's visit to the White House to discuss race relations with Bill Clinton and Al Gore--to the last, Creating Equal is a thoroughly captivating memoir. Connerly provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes history of the battles to eliminate racial preferences in California, Houston, Tex., Washington, and Florida. Connerly's steadfastness in the face of vicious personal attacks is inspiring-a real testament to his commitment to racial progress. This commitment, we learn, is nothing new. For example, as a student at Sacramento State, Connerly learned that local landlords were refusing to rent out their apartments to minority students. In response, Connerly--despite a threat from the college president--led a massive investigation and helped bring about California's fair housing law. Politics aside, the stories from Connerly's hardscrabble childhood are poignant without being sappy--readers will love getting to know Connerly's hardworking, country-music loving Uncle James and his tough-as-nails grandmother. For people who care about the future of race relations, this cogently argued, beautifully written book is a must-read.
Rating: 
Summary: Whoa Nellie! Nicely written but . . .
Review: I...read this book looking for insight into a person I disagree with -- often vehemently -- on the subject of race and rememdy. So I am adding my two cents on Connerly's book. "Creating Equal" is fine as far as books go, with fine writing and clever phrases, but fails to deal with the complex nature of its subject because the "civil rights" measures Connerly advocates do not deal with this complexity. A recent book, "The Unsteady March : The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America," by Philip A. Klinkner and Rogers M. Smith, demonstrates the inherent difficulty in democratic majority principles in operations when it comes to race. Not-so-subtle racial issues such as the right to vote or public accommodation laws would not have passed if majority of the non-minority (or White) vote was determinative of its outcome. It is a fact, however, that almost all progress for Blacks in the United States, both in politics and economics, have often come about through methods that were distinctly counter-majoritarian where the White population vote is concerned. What does this analysis mean for Connerly's vision? The race-neutral principle lauded by Ward Connerly advances a neutral government stance as if the principle sets the stage for action, both self action by Blacks and anti-backlash for Whites. Connerly's own life, however, stands as a testament that principle alone does not work. I urge anyone looking for balance to read the "The Unsteady March" and critically question the application of neutral principles to the factual analysis of the advancement of Blacks -- as a group not individuals -- within our society. If the advancement of Connerly's heartfelt vision truly includes the goal of a race neutral society, the supporters of this vision should work through an analysis of how progress on race has actually occurred in the past and question how best to make it occur in the future. Such an analysis is critical. I suggest that Connerly's vision places the principle before any effective means necessary to invest that principle with meaning. In other words, Connerly and his supporters reject the past (Connerly's past and our collective past) as prologue to the future; equating programs such as affirmative action with wrong-minded failure and rejecting all group-based remedies acknowledging race as a factor. As an alternative, I suggest that active intervention was the catalyst for minority progress in the past, and some form of similar action, albeit open to vigorous debate, is necessary for further progress. The action-based race programs Connerly despises were not the cause of the inequality that existed in his youth. It was not the lack of rugged, self-made individualists that stifled Black progress in the past. I believe Connerly is flat wrong when he concludes that the only modern solution is neutral civil rights action on the part of the government to "Create Equality." Connerly gets three stars for the book, no stars for his majoritarian approach to enforcing his vision, and a suggestion that critical readers look at other works such as Orlando Patterson's "The Ordeal of Integration: Progress and Resentment in America's 'Racial' Crisis" and/or Klinkner's and Smith's "The Unsteady March : The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America"....
Rating:
Summary: A Courageous Man and a Brilliant Book....
Review: In Creating Equal, Ward Connerly returns the *human* dimension to the realities of race in America. Where so often what the poet Robert Hayden called "race rhetoric" substitutes for thought and dialogue, Connerly confronts long-held affirmative action doctrine with compelling insight into the pervasive devastation race preferences have actually had for all people. His emphasis on the necessity of basic human virtue and morality stands as both an indictment of us all and a call to struggle together toward a new vision of what it means to be an American. At last someone other than a radical black or white "civil rights professional" has found a way to speak to these issues and reach all Americans--not merely the campus crowd. Connerly rightly deserves to be more widely known not merely as an opponent of race preferences but rather as a matchless defender of free speech and conscience, a cause for which he has also suffered dearly at one university after another throughout our country. Whatever shape our future will take regarding race, Ward Connerly's personal and public odyssey will be part of the answer, as it is a clear sign for renewed hope that reason and sanity may yet prevail.
Rating:
Summary: CREATING EQUAL Creates Second Thoughts
Review: Over my life course, I have read many books on race relations, social justice, and social inequality. Ward Connerly book's CREATING EQUAL: MY FIGHT AGAINST RACE PREFERENCES will be one of the most memorable. Why? Ward Connerly does not take the popular position. Readers do not have to like him or his ideas to realize that Connerly is a man a great courage. He is well known and even hated for his position on affirmative action. However, reading his elegant words within CREATING EQUAL creates second thoughts among those who are strongly opposed to his ideology. Connerly lays out how his upbringing drove him to believe that Affirmative Action does more damage than good. Most of his logical positions are solid well thought out and have a great deal of merit. Nevertheless, we can find flaws in his position. I have actually required CREATING EQUAL to be read by social work majors who are strongly in favor of affirmative action. After reading this book, ALL of them changed their position. This is not to say that all of them started to oppose affirmative action, but clearly, their positions in favor of affirmative action were softened. Reading CREATING EQUAL creates second thoughts. To induce students to use their critical thinking skills, I often require them to read A HOPE IN THE UNSEEN immediately after reading CREATING EQUAL. Suskind, the author of A HOPE IN THE UNSEEN, chronicles the life of an African American young man's struggle to gain an education. Cedric Jennings' life provides the strongest argument for affirmative action. It is utterly fascinating to witness students synthesizing the content of these two well-written books. So, I recommend that everyone read both books - one immediately following the other.
Rating: 
Summary: Idealism reads nicely...
Review: There's no denying that "Creating Equal" is a well written, easy read. I have enjoyed reading about Connerly's life as well as his opinions on affirmative action, even though i disagree with them. "Creating Equal" has given me a different perspective on the affirmative action issue, but has failed to change my opinion that affirmative action is a necessary policy at this moment in time. Connerly basis his argument on America's goal of becoming a "color blind" society. Unfortunately, Connerly's ideal is far from a reality even as far away as we are from the Civil Rights Movement. While he describes beautiful images of racial differences being nonexistant, the reality of this is not the society that we live in today. There HAVE been significant advances for racial minorities since the Civil Rights Movement, but race is still a key divider in American society. One cannot look at the economic divide in the United States without noting that the general trends show a significant difference in household income between blacks and Latinos, and whites and Asians. Even looking at the "middle class" income bracket, one can see that middle class blacks and Latinos make significantly less than middle class whites and Asians. With more wealth comes a greater access to better education, which in turn creates greater opportunity for advanced education and better jobs, etc. The problem that should be attacked to create equality is the public school system. Thankfully, Connerly acknowledges that the real problem is the public educational system, however, he offers no solution. Erasing affirmative action without simultaneously pushing for reforms in the distribution of funding in public education as well as other improvements offers no solution to those who are truly underserved. I recommend "Creating Equal" to proponents and opponents of affirmative action. While I feel that Connerly is striving to achieve his goal of a color blind society in backwards manner, he does bring into question some important flaws in the affirmative action system as it exists, which can perhaps lead us to a better model to use while we still need it.
Rating:
Summary: Idealism reads nicely...
Review: There's no denying that "Creating Equal" is a well written, easy read. I have enjoyed reading about Connerly's life as well as his opinions on affirmative action, even though i disagree with them. "Creating Equal" has given me a different perspective on the affirmative action issue, but has failed to change my opinion that affirmative action is a necessary policy at this moment in time. Connerly basis his argument on America's goal of becoming a "color blind" society. Unfortunately, Connerly's ideal is far from a reality even as far away as we are from the Civil Rights Movement. While he describes beautiful images of racial differences being nonexistant, the reality of this is not the society that we live in today. There HAVE been significant advances for racial minorities since the Civil Rights Movement, but race is still a key divider in American society. One cannot look at the economic divide in the United States without noting that the general trends show a significant difference in household income between blacks and Latinos, and whites and Asians. Even looking at the "middle class" income bracket, one can see that middle class blacks and Latinos make significantly less than middle class whites and Asians. With more wealth comes a greater access to better education, which in turn creates greater opportunity for advanced education and better jobs, etc. The problem that should be attacked to create equality is the public school system. Thankfully, Connerly acknowledges that the real problem is the public educational system, however, he offers no solution. Erasing affirmative action without simultaneously pushing for reforms in the distribution of funding in public education as well as other improvements offers no solution to those who are truly underserved. I recommend "Creating Equal" to proponents and opponents of affirmative action. While I feel that Connerly is striving to achieve his goal of a color blind society in backwards manner, he does bring into question some important flaws in the affirmative action system as it exists, which can perhaps lead us to a better model to use while we still need it.
Rating: 
Summary: Negative Fifty Trillion stars.
Review: This book could have been subtitled "profiles in courage." There is much more to this book than just his fight against racial preferences. This is a book about courage, integrity, and dignity. The book is about standing up and doing what is right, even when there is no reward for doing what is right, or worse yet, even when one is vilified for doing what is right. Ward Connerly gives a moving account of what life was like for a black person growing up in the segregated South. The book is a memoir about his life, his industrious family and how his values and character were shaped. He fights against racial preferences because he sees them as morally wrong and unjustifiable; additionally, he feels racial preferences send an insidious message to our society in general, and to blacks in particular. I admire his mettle. Whether you are white or black, you can learn a lot from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Connerly speaks from the heart
Review: This book is very entertaining and despite your political views, I think it's impossible not to appreciate what the author has gone through, and be inspired by the courage he has shown in the face of constant attacks by his enemies. It's a great read both as a biography of an "ordinary" man who believes strongly in doing the right thing, and as an introduction to the debate over racial preferences.
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