Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Tuesday that he has not yet decided whether he will support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, due to concerns that it might lead to “busing” and “reverse discrimination.”
McCain said that sometimes when laws that promote equality include provisions with quotas, the legislation fails to address inequality.
“Whether it imposes quotas, whether it has reverse discrimination, whether it has the kinds of provisions that really preserve equal rights for all citizens or, like for example, busing. Busing was done in the name of equality. Busing was a failure. Quotas were a failure,” McCain told the Huffington Post. “A lot of people thought they were solutions. They weren’t. They bred problems.”
McCain added that others, young people in particular, agree with him.
“I think the young people know we do not need reverse discrimination, they don’t believe in quotas and they don’t believe in some of the programs we saw in the name of racial equality implemented in the past which turned out to be counterproductive,” he said.
ENDA specifically bans quotas, Tico Almeida, founder and president of Freedom to Work, told the Huffington Post.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday that the Senate will vote on ENDA before Thanksgiving.
