Lieberman Addresses Black Caucus
L O S A N G E L E S, Aug. 15 -- Democratic vice-presidential hopeful Joseph Lieberman is playing up his support of affirmative action in an effort to repair a rift with some prominent black Democrats.
Hours after arriving in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, the Connecticut senator attended a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus to address concerns about his support for a 1998 California ballot initiative — Proposition 209 — which banned state-sponsored affirmative action programs.
Lieberman insisted today he is no opponent of affirmative action.
Stresses Affirmative Action Support
“I have supported affirmative action, I do support affirmative action and I will support affirmative action,” he told the group of black lawmakers. History and reality make it necessary.”
Lieberman says that he backed the California proposition out of concern that many of the state’s affirmative action programs would lead to racial quotas, which he opposes.
“I support the kinds of affirmative action programs that are not quotas,” Lieberman said Sunday on ABCNEWS’ This Week. “In the economy we have now … affirmative action, in the best sense, is critically necessary to train and education millions of workers who are out of the economic mainstream now.”
“The quest for equal opportunity is one of the fundamental driving ethics of American life,” he also said, “and it has driven my life since I marched with Martin Luther King in 1963.”
Lieberman’s remarks to the Black Caucus this afternoon came amid continued controversy, as some black leaders say they are worried about his stands on issues relevant to their community.
“[Blacks] have some questions now that Gore has chosen a vice-presidential candidate,” California Rep. Maxine Waters, a prominent member of the caucus, said at a weekend rally in Los Angeles, The Washington Post reported today. “We have questions about affirmative action.”
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