Equality Would Harm Veterans? What’ll They Think Of Next?

I thought I’d seen all the arguments against doing away with preferential treatment based on race, sex, or ethnicity, but Robert Gregg, a Madison lawyer who is on a special Legislative Council committee studying the effects and effectiveness of affirmative action in Wisconsin, has come up with a new one, and it is a real doozy: dropping race, sex. and ethnic preferences would harm white, male veterans!

MADISON — Military veterans without disabilities could be the first to lose ground in government hiring, contracting and university admissions if affirmative action programs are dismantled, a nationally recognized employment law expert told members of a legislative committee Wednesday.

White male veterans historically have gained most from affirmative-action programs that now may be threatened by a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding admission policies at the University of Michigan, said Robert Gregg, a Madison attorney.

The court invalidated the University of Michigan’s undergraduate affirmative-action criteria that gave “points” for race in the admission process. The decision could jeopardize a point system used to help veterans in testing for state civil service jobs in Wisconsin, for example, Gregg said.

Gregg, who is white, said the point system aimed at veterans helped launch his career and that affirmative action “helps everyone” by ensuring equal access to opportunity in the hiring process. Without affirmative action, hiring decisions largely would be based on favoritism, he said.

The LaCrosse Tribune article does not say how Gregg managed to conclude that doing away with preferences based on race, sex, or ethnicity would have any effect on programs that do not award preferences based on race, sex, or ethnicity.