Charles T. Canady: “I appreciate the time to discuss this important issue, and I am pleased to rise in support of the amendment offered by…”

“I appreciate the time to discuss this important issue, and I am pleased to rise in support of the amendment offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Riggs). This is an important amendment, an amendment which deals with a fundamental question of justice in our society. In 1871, in the course of the debate over a civil rights bill designed to outlaw segregation in public accommodations, Senator Charles Sumner said this: Any rule excluding a person on account of his color is a indignity, an insult, and a wrong. Senator Sumner was right. It is wrong to classify individuals on the basis of race. If our history as Americans teaches us anything, it should teach us that any such practice is inherently pernicious. It is a violation of our fundamental principle as Americans to classify students by race; then to tell some students that they will be admitted to a school because they belong to a preferred group, and to tell other students that they will be denied admission because they belong to a nonpreferred group. Such a policy is discrimination, pure and simple, and it is wrong. It is wrong for many reasons. It is wrong because it imposes an unfair burden on innocent individuals on account of their race.…”