Ward Connerly at the University of Arizona

Daniel Asia

Ward Connerly spoke at the University of Arizona just a few weeks ago. He was masterly. At five minutes before his talk was to begin there were only five people in the audience. At the start there were between seventy-five and one hundred. It was clear that a huge majority thought they stood in opposition to his views. There were those with placards, who thankfully remained entirely civil throughout. Ward spoke calmly and cooly stating his primary thesis over and over from every angle: Discrimination hardly exists in this country presently. If you work hard you can achieve. Aid should be provided to low income folks no matter what race creed, religion, etc. He deflected or absorbed hostility, never projecting it back at his questioner. A lot of people were thinking hard as they left. Isn't this just what should happen on a university campus, but happens so infrequently?!

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