Virginia Senator Webb Calls for End to Diversity Programs

Sen. Jim Webb is calling for an end to government-run diversity programs, saying they've only disadvantaged poor whites and hurt the cause of racial harmony.

In a column that appeared in Friday's Wall Street Journal, Webb argues that diversity programs have "marginalized many white workers."

He argues that the programs now jump new immigrants over similarly situated whites, and that diversity efforts now slight black Americans who were their original beneficiaries.

Webb spokeswoman Jessica Smith said the senator feels the column speaks for itself and would not comment on it.

The issue of ethnicity helped Webb win his seat in 2006 when Republican Sen. George Allen called a Webb aide of Indian descent "macaca," a slur in some cultures.