© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Billionaire suggests BLM created 'more bigotry,' blasts affirmative action and quotas: 'Positive discrimination is dangerous for society'
Photo by May James/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Billionaire suggests BLM created 'more bigotry,' blasts affirmative action and quotas: 'Positive discrimination is dangerous for society'

British billionaire businessman John Caudwell revealed this week that he is no fan of affirmative action or quotas, and questioned the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, suggesting that it might have made things worse.

Caudwell, the founder of Phones 4u, a UK chain of cellphone stores, told the Times of London that he believes quotas are not good for society and that winners should be determined by talent, not race or gender.

The man who claims to be the U.K.'s biggest taxpayer made his comments while taking part in the Times of London's Education Commission, which is looking at whether the nation needs radical change in its education system.

Commission members asked Caudwell, who opposes efforts to "brainwash" students to believe college degrees are necessary to get good jobs and supports apprenticeships, about reported pay imbalances between men and women, particularly in apprenticeship opportunities.

"I'm not very keen on unbalancing society by having quotas," Caudwell told the Times. "I always think the best person should win, whether they're black, white, male or female."

"I don't like positive discrimination," he added.

Though he admitted that "there's a time and a place where that is beneficial, for instance, post-apartheid in South Africa" and that he understood where it comes from, overall, he said, "I think positive discrimination is dangerous for society."

According to Caudwell, positive discrimination "leads to resentment," which, he said, he has personally witnessed happen "a lot."

Then he used the Black Lives Matter movement as an example and posited that social justice efforts just might have made things worse.

"Did Black Lives Matter improve the cause of black people, or did it cause more resentment and more bigotry?" Caudwell asked. "And that's a good debate to have."

Instead of the so-called positive discrimination promoted by much of the left and woke society, he noted, cultures should be pushing for creating new opportunities.

"I'm not into positive discrimination but I am into creating opportunities as much as possible for people," Caudwell said.

Want to leave a tip?

We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?