" wow. 100. clearly the campus is afire with opposition to racial and gender equality. "

" I wish I could have been there. Many Nebraskans DO NOT Realize the negative impact this initiative will have, if passed. Kudos to SUN. It is great to see that the supporters who know and understand the importance of A.A are actually living, working, going to school HERE in NE. Not some PAID petitioner(s)-gatherers from out of state who have no interest in NE. We shouldn't let a group of threatened men ,threatened by educated/successful women and minorities, dictate the future of NE. "

" So now they're trying to scare people into believing that I-424 is going to take away the 1st Amendment rights of minorities? I would be amazed, but fear-mongering and scare tactics is the only real weapon that those opposed to the initiative have, because logic is not on their side. "

" Why did they have to use black tape? "

" CM, they use black tape to say those who are in favor of equality are racists. Don't these students realize that there are private scholarships held at the University of Nebraska Foundation which are specifically for minority candidates, females only, nurses only, pre-law students only, etc. This only prohibits giving preferences to minorities for those public scholarships. Since only 100 students joined in, the remaining tens of thousands are likely to be common sense individuals. That is good to hear. "

" I was there. There were between 50 and 75, at various times. I have photographs of the whole gathering and can prove it. "

" IF, there is this abundance of educated/successful women and minorities, then why is this an issue? Seems to me the it is not men who feel threatened here. "

" Why do these people not understand that affirmative action = discrimination? "

" For years I have hired and fired many a person for one reason or another, and never, never has a persons skin, sex, religion or anything ever entered into the decision to hire them. It was always by their ability and that is the way it should be. Your abilities should get you a job not your gender, or skin color. Don't use affirmative action as a crutch, throw away the crutch and stand on your on merits. "

" Why is it that minorities believe that they should be given special treatment because of their race? If all people in this country are "equal" why is it that there are scholarships given only to minorities? I was under the impression that after the civil war, color didn't matter, and yet these protesters show that racism is still a huge factor in this country, BY ALL RACES, not just Caucasians. "

" After reading some of these blogs, I see bigotry is still rampant in this state. Everyone thinks only white males should get an education, good paying jobs and the heck with anyone of a different sex or skin color.

A vote for this initiative will stifle this state more than it already is. "

" Those who argue for affirmative action may actually be arguing for the policy of equal employment opportunity (EEO). Affirmative action is public policy and initiative designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Where in the EEO policy it is “concerned with implementing employment practices that do not discriminate against or impair the employment opportunities of proteted groups.” (Yoder, 2003) Some see affirmative action as something that works in conjunction with other federal legislations, such as labor laws, Family and Medical Leave Act.
While attempting to end discrimination and give all Americans equal opportunity, our country began discriminating all over again as more and more changes were made to the original affirmative action laws, and that is why I am against affirmative action. Affirmative action laws worked for a while, and changed business forever. However, affirmative action programs no longer accomplish what they were intended to accomplish. It has now become an extensive system of anti-white preferences, double standards, and quotas, affirmative action should now be widely rejected. "

" But, if we stood around in white tee shirts with a sign that said vote yes, we would be labeled racist. Think about the workers that are being passed over because they are not a minority. "

" I am glad the only 100 showed up to rally for unequal rights and discrimination against their brothers and sisters. We had far greater turn outs for our equal rights and anti descrimination rallies forty years ago.

I am glad that they are able to stand up peacefully and demand that they continue be treated in a more favorable basis than others. It takes a great deal of self importance to publicly state that you should be treated better than others and step to the front of the bus by pushing others to the rear. It takes ignorance of the past fights to gain equality to say that Nebraska in general UNL in particular should pass over more qualified candidates to take less qualified because the are a member of a group, any group.

I am saddened that they are fighting against the very equality that we were fighting for when I was there in the 60's and 70's. I hope that the voting public will see that the discrimination they are supporting is evil just as the discrimination we were seeking to destroy then. Please don't be fooled that equality is not free speech and preference is.

I would hope those of us who fought for equality will now vote for it. "

" When I signed the petition it was not with an intent to vote for the measure, but since then it has become clear many caucasians have been placed in a disadvantaged position...not equal. So I'm siding with Clarence Thomas and standing with merit for the basis of hiring and promotions or acceptance into academic programs. Merit and performance will drive our nation forward not myths that age, race or gender will. "

" I am a white male, who grew up in a well off family, and now have a six figure income. I am married to a Korean woman, who also grew up in a well off family, who also currently has a six figure income. Could any one of these 100 students tell me why our children should qualify, or for that matter, need, special scholarships or admissions due to their Korean heritage? There are millions of other young people out their, of all races and gender, who need these types of assistance more than our children. I find this sense of entitlement insulting. "

" " For years I have hired and fired many a person for one reason or another, and never, never has a persons skin, sex, religion or anything ever entered into the decision to hire them. It was always by their ability and that is the way it should be. Your abilities should get you a job not your gender, or skin color. Don't use affirmative action as a crutch, throw away the crutch and stand on your on merits. "

___________________________

Do you people honestly think someone is hired JUST because they have minority status? Really? No. Whether or not they are a minority is ONLY considered when all other things are equal. Also, there is NO QUOTA SYSTEM. I don't understand why people can't get that through their heads. Most of the people that believe it only do because they got passed up for a job by someone who was a minority. Guess what, they were probably just more qualified than you. Deal with it. "

" I am from Nebraska, I am NOT a paid petition gatherer, and I am against ALL FORMS of discrimination.

End discrimination.
END AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. "

" Yeah, why did it have to be black tape? Why wasn't it white tape, or yellow tape, or blue tape. Never mind that black tape is the most effective, the students should have been made to wear all different colors of tape. That would be more fair. "

" Even Bill Cosby says it is time to do away with affirmative action (reverse discrimination) and start treating blacks and other minorites as equal. He says it is insulting to the minorities because affirmative action seems to say that minorities aren't good enough or smart enough to get there on thier merit. "

" I didn't participate in the rally, just merely walked by the union around this time... and I can assure you that the black tape was not used to say, "those who are in favor of equality are racists." That was a RIDICULOUS assumption. The black tape was used more or less for a visual impact. I'm sure you have seen other silent protests where people have used black tape. So does that mean that all people that use black tape for that purpose are saying that too?

2. No one said anything about silencing the 1st amendment rights of minorities. The voices of minority students would be quieted because I guarantee you if this thing passes, the minority enrollment of students on this campus will sharply decrease. "

" The University will still be able to recruit minorities and women - 424 doesn't take that away.

It'd be nice to move away from the "victim" mentality that some have, who feel that they should be given preferential treatment based on skin color or gender rather than their abilities and qualifications.

Our country is moving towards a more diverse mix of people, and eventually whites will no longer even be a majority. Affirmative action had its place, but we've evolved and it's being used in all the wrong ways now. Would whites be given preferential treatment when they become a minority? Probably not. This isn't about minorities after all - it's about a feeling of entitlement that some groups are getting too comfortable with. "

" See this article: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2008/10/30/news/local/doc490a005c29d8b434189429.txt?orss=1

Between the deceptive and fraudulent study about the law school earlier this month and creepy paid petitioners from out of state, it should be clear from looking at the people who want this passed do not have the state's best interests in mind. Anyone who lies (which is different from manipulating the truth, something I don't really like either) to get people to vote for their personal investment loses my vote immediately. They also prey on voters' misunderstanding of what affirmative action is and how and who it affects.

I hope others see this amendment for what it is: a loosely-veiled shot at minorities in a state where they think people are ignorant enough to believe whatever they say without caring whether or not it is true. Let's prove them wrong, Nebraska. "

" J is a bit off. AA doesn't say to choose the minority candidate when "all other things are equal". Rather when the MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS are met. In other words, if you have a job which requires a Bachelor degree and two years of experience, and you have an under-represented minority who just meets those minimum qualifications, they should be hired. That is even if you have a non-minority candidate who has a Masters degree and 5 years of experience. "

" No matter what we implement, affirmative action or quotas (yes quots are still out there and being used), there will always be some type of unfairness. Robert Fullinwider suggests that when one group of people are helped with affirmative action anothr is discriminated against. “Sometimes we may have no choice except to impose one unfairness or allow another to persist.” (Fillinwider, 1991) Fullinwider tries to make his point about this by using the scenerio of “normal” sized people living in a world of giants. Giant land is inhospitable to normal sized people, because everything is made for the giants use, but is this the giants fault that now there are little people living among them? No it’s not, so as one group continues to live normally another group is discriminated against. "

" YOu really think the color of a person doesn't matter? do you honestly believe that?? there are people threatening one of the presidental candidates just BECAUSE of his color!!"stand on your own merits" give me a break... affirmative action is NOT discrimination. whites are the majority, dominant group. whenever minorities, forwhatever reason, become educated and successful, it is ALWAYS looked at as unfairness. i don't see the word "abundance" anywhere in the second post. what are photographs going to prove? that you can count to 75? J, you are absolutely right. but they will never get it through their heads. they believe that they are superior no matter what. notice how the unl professors never claimed to have a list of white males who are unqualified! I had hope for this state.... "

" How can Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action ever co-exist in a rational world? As a white male seeking a government position, for example, you are excluded based on AA race/sex bias quota, period. More social engineering by the democratic party's agenda, which now, under that "Obamanation", will tell me how much income is too much! What a world, but mostly a macro version of living in Lincoln. "

" Discrimination is wrong. It doesn't matter what the religion, age, or color. When programs are created for a specific rate; even in the guise of assisting them, it is wrong. It is discrimination. Affirmative action is wrong. I don't care who financed the petition - discrimination is still wrong. Discrimination was wrong 100 years ago and it is still wrong today. "

" Why would anyone stand up and say that we are not good enough to achieve on our own merit?

We are talking advanced college and hiring here, not the necessity to have an adequate and equal public education through high school. This is college. At UNL no one is turned down undergrad that meets the qualifications. Minorities are not discriminated against in admission, so there is no need to start. When we get to hiring and advance programs, then there is a finite number of slots available. These should be awarded to the brightest and best, regardless of color or sex. Equality is equality. Discrimination is discrimination. We cannot stop being racist and sexist until these are ignored.

As far as the black tape. "

" Wow, a whole 100, out of about 25,000, really good turnout there. That's not even a sliver of the racial minorities enrolled at UNL, looks like you're not inspring anybody but the LJS. "

" What an awful lot of fuss! Black tape, white tape, camo tape...who cares? The students are not good or bad for protesting. Nor are the faculty. They are just ppl doing something they believe in that is not harming anyone. It's not like they stood around with pictures of eviserated minorities like the abortion protesters use! This is a UNIVERSITY. There are supposed to be things like protests! "

" we wouldn't need affirmative action if racist whites didn't exist. you can't honestly think white males are the only people qualified for jobs. 100's of years of discrimination against woman and other minorities ad up. slavery and not being able to vote, is discrimination. enabling a oppressed minority to integrate the job force isn't discrimination. it's the right thing to do. "

" Affirmative Action=Discrimination. What don't these people understand? And 100 people? whoppie. I had more people at my last party. "

" Now I'm confused. Where are YOU at where ONLY white males are being chosen for these things? I see women and minorities being all sorts of successful in both higher education and the career field. And you know what? I bet they were all very deserving of what they achieved. I'm a female college graduate, have a flourishing career, and guess what - I didn't call upon AA to help me beat out all the white men that are trying ever so hard to beat down all the other women and minorities... "

" Great job students! It's great to see that young minds can see, perhaps through stories passed down to them by their grandparents, that racism and sexism is ruining this great country. Keep up the fight for Affirmative Action! Keep your eyes open and your mouths taped shut, and who knows, someday this country may actually elect a black man as president or a female as vice president! (as if that will ever happen!) "

" just fyi - 57% of college students are female. "

" Remember when you said "Between the deceptive and fraudulent study about the law school earlier this month and creepy paid petitioners from out of state" as the starting arguement in yoru case against the ban? When did law school teach you to use "creepy" people (which, by the way, is a statement teeming with predjudice) as a basis for a legal arguement?
Hopefully not the UNL law college... The study done on the law school earlier this year was full of holes, I'll give you that. But when has a study of any kind been done to the contrary? I'm waiting for people to prove that AA only helps ALL people. Until AA helps ALL people it is racist, sexist & and every other "ist" there is. "

" y'all rock!!
keep up the good work.
and just brush the haters off. "

" Here are some facts for 'really'...

My ancestors came over after the abolition of slavery. They were never involved in slavery, and never benefited from slave labor. As a white male, I am fully aware that there are many qualified minorities. In fact, I work with quite a few of them. I also work with a number of unqualified whites and minorities. I do not believe that white males are the only people qualified for jobs, and I don't think you'll find a whole lot of people supporting this initiative that feel that way. What you'll find is people who believe that justice for the sins of generations past should not be meted out against current generations. If you want justice and equality, then you should vote FOR this initiative. "

" Do people really believe that there is NO discrimination still taking place in this country and in Nebraska?? "Affirmative Action" is one way to give extra help to those who were discriminated against to get in the position which they should have been if there had not been discrimination. It sad that there are so many "average" people who aren't able raise themselves enough that they must continue to hurt those they have surpressed in the past. "

" I hate to break it to you, but white males are not the only persons in position of power any more. And they certainly are not the only ones who can be racist or sexist. "

" These knee-jerk responses prove that racism, sexism, and every other ism, is alive and well right here. "

" " Wow, a whole 100, out of about 25,000, really good turnout there. That's not even a sliver of the racial minorities enrolled at UNL, looks like you're not inspring anybody but the LJS. "

Your comment shows the ignorance that still exists about Affirmative Action. Affirmative action is NOT just for racial minorities!

If you look at the UNL Diversity scholarship page (http://www.admissions.unl.edu/diversity/), UNL offers scholarships for LGBT, minority, low-income, and first generation students.

If you look at the UNO Scholarship page (http://www.ses.unomaha.edu/finaid/scholarship_info.php), you will see that there are scholarships created for those of academic prowess, LEGACY students (there have been some allegations that the University of Nebraska system doesn't offer legacy scholarships, where here's your proof), and students of color.

Furthermore, your comment also infers that you believe all racial minorities benefit from Affirmative Action, and or agree with it. I am an African-American female student that attends UNL and my parents are paying OUT OF POCKET for my education. I met the admission requirements to come to UNL, so I was admitted. Affirmative Action had NOTHING to do with me coming to this University!

Just for your own viewing pleasure, here's the University of Kearney scholarship website: http://www.unk.edu/offices/financial_aid/index.php?id=15494.

It is this chronic misunderstanding of what AA programs actually are in this state in regards to education. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, I encourage you to make an EDUCATED decision, based on the facts. Take a look at the websites listed above, and decide if you REALLY have a problem with the scholarship programs offered - NONE of which measure on race alone. "

" Its sad this is even an issue. The reverse discrimination that has come from affirmative action is nearly as deplorable as the original discrimination. Lets stop giving preference based on race, etc! "

" I you really believe the "proportion" of all racial (and sexual) groups at colleges and/or employed in a business is equal to the population as a whole vote "For". The facts show it is not! "

" I’m so proud of my home state. Nebraska’s are moving toward Martin Luther King’s dream of “Judging a person on their character and not on the color of their skin”. "