The American Civil Liberties Union is hosting discussion Wednesday on a Affirmative Action banning initiative that is being petitioned to get on Missouri’s November ballot.

California businessman and anti-Affirmative Action Activist Ward Connerly is behind an initiative that would end Affirmative Action in Missouri. He has pushed successful bids to end the civil rights legislation in California, Washington state and Michigan. He is currently pushing initiatives in four other states besides Missouri.

Connerly says Affirmative Action is discriminatory and unneeded. Critics of Connerly argue that Affirmative Action is still necessary due to discriminatory hiring practices and the underrepresentation of minorities on college campuses.

The ACLU describes Connerly’s initiative as being “cloaked in the language of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement” with a misleading title. The bill is called the “Missouri Civil Rights Initiative” and is touted as a bill to end unfair hiring practices.

(I)t is an attack on affirmative action policies that have benefited women and minorities who would otherwise be locked out of higher education, business contracts, and other public resources … Now, the ACRI (American Civil Rights Initiative) has targeted Missouri, along with Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Can they be stopped? Does affirmative action still comprise an effective and critical a set of social policies? This session explores both questions and more.

The event is entitled “Affirmative Action: What’s at Stake for Missouri and America” and will feature National ACLU Racial Justice Director, Dennis Parker. It is happening Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the offices of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri, 454 Whittier Street, just south of Olive.

RSVPs are encouraged as seating is limited. For more information call 652-3114, ext 23.