THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507080382
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 25 lines
Arthur Fletcher, a Republican member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, joined the 1996 presidential race Friday, urging his party not to abandon minorities and the working class.
Fletcher, a strong advocate of affirmative action, said: ``My party has designed a top-down strategy, which says the wealthy, the rich, the affluent belong to this party. Anybody that doesn't earn $35,000 a year is out of the equation.''
Fletcher, 70, has been promoting affirmative action programs since the Nixon administration, when he was a Labor Department official. Since then, three Republican presidents - Ford, Reagan and Bush - have appointed him to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which he chaired from 1990 to 1993. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Fletcher by CNB