Coalition: Don’t Sign Race Ballot Petitions Coalition: Don’t Sign Race Ballot Petitions
Affirmative action ban would backfire, it says
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/news/education/naffir14_20040114.htm
By Dawson Bell, Free Press Staff Writer
January 14, 2004; Section: Education News
LANSING -- A coalition of mainstream business, civic, religious and labor groups said Tuesday that a proposal to ban racial preferences is deceptive and divisive, and asked Michigan voters not to sign petitions to place it on the November ballot.
Retired Brig. Gen. Michael Rice, executive director of Citizens for a United Michigan, called the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative an anti-civil rights proposal that will muddle Michigan law and create widespread confusion and ill will.
Rice spoke at a news conference with Paul Hillegonds, director of Detroit Renaissance.
"This reckless constitutional amendment will create unforeseen, unintended consequences . . . hurting our state's business and economy," said Hillegonds, a former Republican speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives.
The coalition includes traditional adversaries like the Michigan Catholic Conference and American Civil Liberties Union. Tuesday's news conference included statements opposing the proposal from Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Melvin Butch Hollowell and Republican Chairman Betsy DeVos.
Organizers of the ballot drive, prompted by last summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding use of race in admissions decisions at the University of Michigan, said they weren't surprised by the makeup of the opposition coalition.
But Jennifer Gratz, director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, said it doesn't reflect public opinion.
In Michigan as elsewhere, she said, "there is a huge disconnect between society . . . and elite institutions."
Rice said his campaign hasn't determined what tactics, if any, it will use during the petition drive other than to discourage citizens from signing. But if the measure is approved for the ballot, the group is expected to raise money for a full-blown campaign, including advertising.
Citizens for a United Michigan was formed specifically to oppose the Michigan ballot proposal and is not affiliated with the group of sometimes angry activists BAMN (the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary), who were highly visible during the U-M litigation.
Representatives of BAMN have said they plan to follow petition circulators into the street and discourage potential signers.
Contact DAWSON BELL at 313-222-6604 or dbell@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2004 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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