Reagan Names Clarence Pendleton to Lead Civil Rights Commission

Reagan appoints Clarence Pendleton, a Black conservative, as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Pendleton opposes affirmative action, calling it a bankrupt concept, and dismantles commission programs monitoring enforcement of civil rights laws. In 1983 Reagan fires three Democratic commissioners, provoking a constitutional showdown resolved by restructuring the commission to dilute its independence.