Urban League Cancels L.A. Meeting Plans as a Protest : Convention: Civil rights group objects to Wilson’s moves to dismantle affirmative action. Loss to area put at $6 million to $10 million.
The National Urban League, one of the largest and most influential African American civil rights groups, has canceled plans to hold its 1996 national conference in Los Angeles because of Gov. Pete Wilson’s recent move to wipe out some of California’s affirmative action programs.
In a Thursday news conference at the group’s Los Angeles office, Urban League President Hugh B. Price accused Wilson of “pitting economically put-upon white males against equally put-upon women and minorities.â€
The decision to withdraw the national meeting from the Los Angeles Convention Center--which Price said would have brought 20,000 participants and $10 million in business--was made after Wilson signed an executive order this month abolishing all state government affirmative action committees and cutting back preferences granted by the state to minority group members to the level required by state and federal law, according to Price.
Los Angeles tourism officials said it is unlikely that another large convention could make up for the loss of the Urban League meeting that had been scheduled for July, 1996, because large conferences are usually booked nearly two years in advance.
Wilson spokeswoman Leslie Goodman said the cancellation shows that “the leadership of the Urban League is out of step with the majority of Californians, who oppose special preferences.â€
George Kirkland, president of the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the group’s decision would hurt Los Angeles tourist industry workers, most of whom are minorities. The cancellation, Kirkland said, would “sacrifice the jobs of the very people who have so long supported the league in Los Angeles.â€
League President Price acknowledged that minority workers might be hurt by the cancellation, but said, “We need to look at the many more who would be hurt in the long haul as a result of Pete Wilson’s attack on affirmative action.â€
When asked if it would have been more effective for the Urban League to hold its meeting in Los Angeles and protest Wilson’s actions during the conference, Price said that “the real effect is the economic one.â€
The Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated the loss of business due to the cancellation at $6 million, less than the Urban League’s figure. But Michael Collins, the bureau’s senior vice president, said, “The exact amount isn’t important. It’s a significant loss, and an event this important can’t likely be replaced.â€
Collins said that in addition to the money spent by convention visitors, the Urban League event would have been an important, high-profile function for the Convention Center. “It’s a prestigious one, and we were proud of the fact that L.A. was to host it,†he said.
Price said that an alternate site has not been chosen but that the group wants the meeting to be in a western state.
Los Angeles Urban League President John W. Mack said he has talked with representatives of several other civil rights groups that may also opt not to hold conventions in California to protest Wilson’s moves against affirmative action.
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