The American Civil Rights Institute is an American conservative non-profit organization that opposes affirmative action. It was founded by Ward Connerly and Thomas L. "Dusty" Rhodes in 1996 in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. As of 2017 it operates from a mailing address in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It has also been called the American Civil Rights Coalition. The organization's goals are diametrically opposed to those pursued by the majority of civil rights organizations. It describes itself as "a national

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

organization created to educate the public on the harms of racial and gender preferences." It argues that programs intended to help minorities discriminate against non-miniority people. Ward Connerly describes his work as "fiercely committed to the ideal of a

color-blind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

America." The organization pays an unusually large amount of money to its executive, at times exceeding half the organization's total revenue. ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' observed that "Connerly cashes in" on affirmative action, making millions of dollars.

Goal

The American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) was established in 1996 by Ward Connerly and Thomas L. "Dusty" Rhodes (President of Review) after leading the campaign in California to adopt

Proposition 209 Proposition 209 (also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative or CCRI) is a California ballot proposition which, upon approval in November 1996, amended the state constitution to prohibit state governmental institutions from considering r ...

. The organization opposes affirmative action and racial and gender preferences in federal, state and local government programs. It focuses on public education, policy research and supporting constitutional amendments in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

that seek to abolish racial and gender preferences. ACRI also assists other anti-affirmative action organizations in various states in opposing racial and gender preferences in government programs and advancing the view that such racial and gender preferences are harmful. ACRI states that its members believe that "civil rights are individual rights and government policies should not uphold group rights over individual rights." The organization's goals are diametrically opposed to those pursued by the majority of civil rights organizations.

Funding

Ward Connerly takes in donations to help fund ACRI. In 2001, Connerly received $700,000 from

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that primarily supports conservative causes. The foundation provides between $35 million and $4 ...

of Milwaukee for his anti-affirmative action campaign in California. Connerly also gained $150,000 from Olin Foundation and $200,000 from Richard Mellon Scaife.

High executive pay

Ward Connerly's personal financial gain from his organization is unusually high for a nonprofit. In 2006, Connerly was paid $1.6 million dollars by the American Civil Rights Institute, 66% of the organization's total revenue, making him the second-highest paid nonprofit executive in greater Sacramento. Some of this pay comes from Connerly hiring himself as a consultant and speaker. Congressmen

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...

and Charles Rangel directed the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

to investigate the possibility that Connerly's compensation violates law against using nonprofits to enrich oneself.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.acri.org/ Civil rights organizations in the United States Opposition to affirmative action Conservative organizations in the United States