Push to Ban Race Preferences Postponed Push to Ban Race Preferences Postponed
Group to try again in 2006; opponents wary
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/news/education/civ16_20040616.htm
By Chris Christoff, Free Press Lansing Bureau Chief
June 16, 2004, Section: Education
A proposal to ban racial preferences in university admissions and state government hiring won't be on the November ballot, but organizers said Tuesday they'll aim for a 2006 vote.
State Rep. Leon Drolet, R-Clinton Township, cochair of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, said the petition drive will forgo this year's election ballot and restart its campaign to collect the 400,000 voter signatures needed to put the issue before a statewide vote two years from now.
Drolet said the campaign will begin in early July using 1,600 paid volunteers to circulate petitions. The campaign was launched by Ward Connerly, a California businessman who has led similar anti-affirmative action campaigns in other states. The Michigan campaign followed last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the University of Michigan's use of race as a factor in admissions, while also tightening how race can be used.
The petition drive campaign was plagued by fund-raising, legal and organizational problems from the onset.
A spokesman for a group opposing the petition drive said it will not drop its countercampaign until it is certain the anti-affirmative action effort cannot legally qualify for the November ballot.
"We won't let up until July 2," said Dave Waymire, spokesman for Citizens for a United Michigan. "Mr. Connerly, in the past, has taken such actions, and when the opposition let its guard down, they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy signatures. We're not buying any of this stuff."
Waymire also said the petition drive will face further legal challenges in the state Supreme Court. Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals cleared the way for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative to continue its petition drive, ruling that its petitions were properly worded.
But the lengthy legal challenge put a crimp in the campaign's ability to collect signatures and donations, Drolet said.
"Now it's full steam ahead," Drolet said. "We have a paid effort in the field, 1,660 volunteers who signed up. We have regained momentum, and we have golden language that courts have ruled is constitutional."
Jennifer Gratz, executive director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, said Tuesday the effort is not losing steam, despite internal strife and organizational problems.
"In the past two days, Web activity has picked up incredibly," Gratz said. "The Court of Appeals agreed with us and said the petition language was clear. It's an exciting time for the Civil Rights Initiative."
Waymire said the anti-affirmative action group confuses the public with its name and that most Michigan voters would not support immediate elimination of affirmative action programs that benefit minorities and women.
"The only way this will get on the ballot is if people like Mr. Drolet continue to confuse the public about its real purpose," Waymire said.
Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 517-372-8660 or christoff@freepress.com. Free Press staff writer Maryanne George contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2004 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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