Florida and Affirmative Action

This sub-page is devoted to affirmative action news in Florida. This page will be continually updated so as to register shifts on the issue of affirmative action in public and private opinion. Two governing questions for this sub-page of the Affirmative Action and Diversity Project are these: How are those most affected by Jeb Bush's "Florida One" plan reacting to all of the juridical decisions, and to various elections? What will the implications be for Florida and for the nation as a whole?

Also, viewers might want to cross-reference the News and Announcements page for an up-to-date chronology of Affirmative Action news items.
This page last revised August 2002.

News and Campaigns

September 7, 2002: Replacing affirmative action with broader recruitment efforts has made little change so far in the racial diversity of Florida's public university system, according to figures released Friday. Minority Enrollment Remains Steady at State Universities

August 24, 2002: The 2002 governor's race was supposed to be payback time for Florida Democrats. Since the end of the tumultuous 2000 presidential election, the party has cast its eyes on defeating Gov. Jeb Bush for his education program, his policy on affirmative action and the lingering bitterness over the state's role in sending President Bush, the governor's older brother, to the White House. Jeb Bush Rivals Face Uphill Battle

September 6, 2001: Black and Hispanic freshman enrollment held steady at most of Florida's 11 public universities this year, leading Gov. Jeb Bush's administration to declare that the One Florida race-neutral admissions policy is working. Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan announced Wednesday that blacks make up a slightly smaller portion of this year's university freshman class than last year's, but the percentage of Hispanics rose slightly. See articles Minority Enrollment Keeps Up, Number of Minority Freshmen Rises as Affirmative Action Ends, and Minority Freshmen Rolls Rise at State Colleges.

September 4, 2001: Two years after abolishing affirmative action programs for minority-owned companies, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said on Tuesday they are now getting an unprecedented share of state spending. Flanked by charts and minority business owners, Bush said data from his budget office showed that jettisoning set aside programs and quotas have not, as critics had predicted, undermined minority business competing for the nearly $15 billion in goods and services purchased every year by the state. See article Minorities' Share of Florida Business Said Growing.

August 30, 2001: The University of Florida has announced that it will no longer award scholarships based on race. See article Florida Eliminating Scholarships

August 12, 2001: Black freshman enrollment at the University of Florida is expected to be down by nearly half this year under Gov. Jeb Bush's ban on racial preference in public university admissions. Blacks represented nearly 12 percent of the freshman class last year, but the class starting this month will be only 6 percent to 7 percent black, said officials at the state's most elite public university. ``This is disappointing,'' said provost David Colburn, the school's chief academic officer. See article Ban Likely to Cut Black Enrollment and editorial piece Jury Still Out on Talented Twenty.

June 8, 2001: Six months after his state delivered the White House to brother George W. Bush, Florida's Republican Gov. Jeb Bush announced on Friday he will run for re-election next year, setting the stage for what is likely to be a high-profile governor's race. Jeb Bush, whose state took center stage in the bitter aftermath of the November 2000 presidential election, may find himself pitted against former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, who is considering a Democratic bid for governor. See article Jeb Bush Says Will Seek Re-election in Florida.

February 23, 2001: Gov. Jeb Bush wept before a black Baptist education group Friday as he introduced minority staffers and appointees he said have been ridiculed by other blacks for associating with him. Bush's decision to abolish affirmative action in university admissions and state contracting prompted marches and demonstrations, including a sit-in by black lawmakers in the governor's office suite, last year. Bush said he feels hurt by the criticism, not for himself but for people such as Leslie Steele, one of his press aides, and Lottery Secretary David Griffin, both black. (See article Jeb Bush Tearful Over Criticism)

November 7, 2000: Florida, with its 25 electoral votes, becomes a crucial state for the outcome of presidential election 2000 . See Affirmative Action and Election 2000 for more news on Florida's role.

September 15, 2000: Jeb Bush defends "Florida One" as "Better Than Affirmative" (New York Times Opinion).

September 7, 2000: Florida's Twist on Affirmative Action; "Bush's 'One Florida' initiative replaces racial preferences with class-ranking preferences" (Chicago Tribune).

August 31, 2000: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush suffered harsh criticism--and even a lawsuit--when he announced his plan last year to eliminate affirmative action from all state university admissions programs. Tuesday, he announced that an additional 1,234 minorities have enrolled as first-year students at Florida schools for the upcoming fall semester--a 12 percent increase from last year. Click here for news article.

April 17, 2000: Jeb Bush's College Try: A Pro-Minority Plan Draws the Ire of the Left (US News).

March 11, 2000: Another Sit-In at Bush Office Possible. The two state legislators who led the fight against the One Florida Initiative plan set the stage Friday for a possible second sit-in in the governor's office, warning that they will go to Gov. Jeb Bush's office suite at noon Monday.

March 9, 2000: Bush, Civil Rights Group Bury Hatchet. One day after civil rights leaders marched on Tallahassee and bashed Gov. Jeb Bush for his controversial One Florida plan, state leaders of the NAACP met with the governor to discuss the organization's legislative agenda

March 7, 2000: Thousands march to the state capitol in Florida in order to protest Governor Jeb Bush's Executive Order eliminating race and gender considerations in university admissions and state contracting. Observers predict various national reactions.

March 3, 2000: Equal Education Still A Dream for Some (USA Today editorial).

February 25, 2000: The U.S. Department of Education criticizes Florida's decision to end affirmative action policies.

February 17, 2000: The Florida Board of Regents votes unanimously to support Gov. Jeb Bush's "One Florida" plan.

January 18, 2000: Two Florida state law-makers protest Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's "One Florida" plan by conducting a 1960s style sit-in at the Lt. Governor's Office.

November 24, 1999: Florida's attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to stop a bid by California businessman Ward Connerly to stamp out affirmative action in Florida, aides said on Wednesday.

November 22, 1999: Black lawmakers from around the state have organized a petition campaign to fight against Governor Jeb Bush's "One Florida" plan. They are upset with the Board of Regents for voting to end affirmative action at state universities. Under the policy, state schools will NOT be allowed to give minority applicants special consideration. The group is hoping to collect thousands of signatures.

November 22, 1999: Jacksonville Congresswoman Corinne Brown says the Board of Regents did NOT consider all the ramifications when it voted to end affirmative action at state universities. She says, by approving Governor Jeb Bush's "One Florida" plan, it may have jeopardized Millions of dollars in education funding from the federal government. She has asked the Department of Education to look into it.

November 21, 1999: Here is the text of the Florida Equal Opportunity Initiative, the pro-affirmative action drive sponsored by the NAACP and other groups in opposition to Ward Connerly's effort to dismantle affirmative action in Florida. They hope to get it on the 2000 ballot:

''The state shall not discriminate against any person on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color or national origin in public employment, public education, or public contracting. It shall not constitute discrimination for the state to take affirmative action to promote equal opportunity to the extent permissible under the United States Constitution as long as it does not employ a numerical quota.''

November, 21, 1999: Taking aim at both anti-affirmative action activist Ward Connerly and Gov. Jeb Bush, supporters of affirmative action huddled Saturday in a caucus timed to coincide with the annual rivalry on the gridiron between Florida's
historically black schools. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 19, 1999: Returning home to find himself embroiled in the most explosive controversy since he took office, Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday lashed out at the critics of his plan to end racial preference laws in Florida. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 17, 1999:After a week of intense pressure by fellow black legislators, state Sen. Daryl Jones Tuesday did an about-face and blasted Republican Gov. Jeb Bush's new voluntary racial-diversity plan -- in an attempt to stave off a coup to
oust him as chairman of the Legislature's black caucus. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 16, 1999: After hours of debate and protests from students and black leaders Friday, Florida's Board of Regents endorsed Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to end affirmative action in admissions at the state's 10 public universities.

November 16, 1999: Black politicians said Monday they are outraged by Gov. Jeb Bush's order to end affirmative action and minority set-asides, and urged minority voters to strike back at the polls. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 12, 1999: A black businessman who led efforts to end affirmative action in California said he will continue pushing for a constitutional amendment in Florida despite Gov. Jeb Bush's move to end racial quotas in state programs.

November 12, 1999: Higher education officials say the most promising element of Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to eliminate race in state university admissions is his head-on attack on the ``pipeline problem'' -- the fact that too few minority students are in the academic circuits that lead to college. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 11, 1999: Applauding Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to stop setting aside state contracts for minorities and women, the Broward County Republican Party on Wednesday urged the county to review its affirmative action policies. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 10, 1999: Gov. Jeb Bush has signed an order that eliminates race and ethnicity as factors in university admissions and bars racial set-asides and quotas in contracting decisions - essentially ending affirmative action in state programs.

November 9, 1999: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush launched an initiative on Tuesday to abolish many racial preferences in awarding contracts and university admissions in the state, but he did not endorse a bid to completely eliminate affirmative action.

November 8, 1999: A poll by The Herald and The St. Petersburg Times shows that Florida voters, by a margin of more than two to one, would ban public race and gender preferences. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

November 4, 1999: Affirmative Action foes are awaiting the latest executive order from Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Bush is expected to sign an order banning racial preferences or quotas in state employment, contracting and higher education. The latest move by the governor could force organizers of the Florida Civil Rights Initiative to obtain additional signatures to put an anti-affirmative action referendum on the 2000 ballot. Bush says the executive order could come in a matter of weeks.

August 22, 1999: Supporters of affirmative action in Florida say the proposed 2000 ballot initiative is misleading. Meanwhile, those opposed to affirmative action have gathered over 55,000 signatures. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

August 19, 1999: Governor Jeb Bush is reconsidering a redistricting plan that would trim representation among blacks in South Florida districts. Click here for St. Petersburg Times news story.

August 18, 1999: Ward Connerly announces that petitions seeking a ballot initiative to do away with affirmative action programs have been signed by enough Floridians to warrant a review by the state supreme court. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

August 14, 1999: As California businessman Ward Connerly forges ahead with a drive to ban affirmative action in Florida, Governor Jeb Bush is planning his own review of the state's preference programs and may try to make changes. Click here for Miami Herald news story

August 2, 1999: Ward Connerly's Florida petition drive is aimed at putting a referendum on the ballot next year to bar state and local governments from using race in hiring, contracting and school admissions. Connerly hopes Florida will be a vehicle for pushing his anti-affirmative-action crusade into the center of the presidential campaign. Click here for Time Magazine Article.

July 31, 1999: Affirmative Action foe Ward Connerly has gathered 43,000 signatures in his bid to add an anti-Affirmative Action measure to the 2000 Florida ballot. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

July 15, 1999: The Florida Board of Regents votes not to create two new public law schools in the state, opting instead to spend up to $2.5-million on new scholarships and other programs for minority students. The decision angers some black and Hispanic lawmakers who have argued that the state needs the schools to train more minority lawyers.

July 14, 1999: A small group of retirees from Homestead to Margate are joining forces with deep-pocket building contractors to fuel a statewide campaign to ban affirmative action in Florida. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

July 6, 1999: The Florida NAACP is vigorously opposing Ward Connerly's bid to end Affirmative Action in the state. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

June 30, 1999: As an attempt to fend off lawsuits, Oklahoma announces that it has eliminated set-asides for female and minority students in a state scholarship program.

June 26, 1999: South Florida's general contractors were urged Friday to openly repudiate Ward Connerly's attempts to ban affirmative action in Florida. Click here for Miami Herald news story.

June 25, 1999: Ward Connerly hopes to gain the support of both Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and Governor George W. Bush of Texas in his fight against Affirmative Action. Governor Jeb Bush of Florida opposes Connerly's efforts to eliminate Affirmative Action in his state. Click here for St. Petersburg Times news story.

March 16, 1999: In a preview of the long battle to come, a California businessman leading a new campaign to ban affirmative action in Florida traded verbal shots Monday with politicians and black leaders who oppose him. Click here for St. Petersburg Times article.

March 14, 1999: Ward Connerly announces that Florida will be the next battleground in the fight over affirmative action. He vows to have another initiative added to the 2000 ballot. Click here for St. Petersburg Times story.