NAACP Fundraiser Geared Toward Preserving Affirmative Action
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060430/NEWS12/604300372/-1/BUSINESS07
By Michael J. Feeney, Associated Press
April 30, 2006
DETROIT (AP) -- A major NAACP fundraiser provided a platform Sunday for critics of a ballot initiative that, if passed, would restrict affirmative action programs in Michigan.
Thousands attended the 51st annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner held by the Detroit branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The theme for this year's event at Cobo Center was "We've Come too Far to Turn Back Now -- Preserve Affirmative Action."
Michigan voters in November will be asked whether government and university admissions programs should be prohibited from giving preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin.
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative's major supporters include California businessman Ward Connerly, who has supported similar proposals in his home state and in Washington. Opponents have waged a lengthy but unsuccessful legal battle to block the referendum.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat who has fought to preserve affirmative action, was the keynote speaker at Sunday's NAACP event.
At a news conference before the dinner, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and the Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the NAACP's 50,000-member Detroit chapter, voiced opposition to the MCRI.
"We're not just here for a dinner, we are here for a civil rights event," Anthony said. Preserving affirmative action, he said, "is not just a black issue. This is a national issue."
The Rev. Joseph Lowery was to be presented with a lifetime achievement award at the dinner. Lowery is a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and an associate of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The Detroit chapter of the NAACP has been sponsoring the Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner since 1956. Civil rights lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall was the event's first speaker. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was the keynote speaker last year.
Abortion opponents peaceably demonstrated Sunday outside Cobo Center.
"People are unaware of the effects of abortion," said Deb Ives, regional coordinator for Silent No More Awareness, an anti-abortion organization. "We're here to support the NAACP and encourage them to do something about this."
------
On the Net:
Detroit branch, NAACP: http://www.detroitnaacp.org/
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press
News and Announcements | AAD Home Page