Area near courthouse packed Area near courthouse packed
Thousands gather from around nation and debate
April 2, 2003 BY ALEXA CAPELOTO, SUZETTE HACKNEY AND SHERYL JAMES FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
WASHINGTON -- The demonstrators were packed so tightly against barricades near the Supreme Court on Tuesday, some complained they couldn't breathe. "Did gravity just shift?" one man wondered. "I feel like I'm being held up, not down." Thousands gathered from around the country -- many from Michigan -- as the high court met to debate race-conscious admissions policies at the University of Michigan. A little girl grimaced from atop her father's shoulders as people pressed closer. Her parents are graduate students at U-M.
"It's an important part of American history," said the girl's mother, Imani Goffney. Let the legal scholars speculate on what the court will rule. Tuesday morning, thoughts on what should happen filled the streets, in a rain-soaked, sometimes sweaty mosaic. Police kept the crowd, estimated at 5,000-7,000 by police but much larger by organizers, from the steps of the court. And they kept the opposing sides separate -- a small group of protestors who oppose U-M's policy chanted away from the massive crowd that favored it.
All morning, people lined the streets carrying signs and chanting. A helicopter whirred overhead. The scene was relatively peaceful, considering many rode buses all night to get there. Signs read: "We need affirmative action to combat affirmative racism," and "400 years of slavery is worth 20 points" -- what minority students are awarded in U-M's 150-point admissions policy. Across the street and away from the throng, a banner introduced the group "Angry White Guys for Affirmative Action." Young black students cheered as they passed the white people.
About 1,000 U-M students rallied separately with Michigan Democrats such as U.S. Reps. John Dingell, John Conyers and Carolyn Cheeks-Kilpatrick, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Most wore T-shirts that read, "I support Affirmative Action -- race must be a factor because racism is a factor." Many of these same students swore a vow of silence Monday while still on campus, gagging themselves in an effort to show what would happen to the university without the voice of underrepresented minorities.
Conyers predicted a 5-4 vote to sustain affirmative-action guidelines. Few speakers and signs rallied the counterprotesters. No chants rang out to stop using race as a factor in admissions. Perhaps it was because people who oppose affirmative action were afraid of being branded as racists. U-M student John Book said that perhaps people rally "only when something they value is threatened." Beatrice Lee, 71, of New Jersey watched it all while she rested her feet and remembered the first civil rights movement.
"There's a lot that young people don't understand," she said in a slow lilting tone that hinted at her southern Virginia upbringing. "But they're working. I saw them today, and I was very proud." The crowds began to thin by 2 p.m., four hours after the court began hearing arguments. Groups of students reunited to hop on planes, trains and buses.
The group that had arrived on Bus No. 1 from Detroit was scheduled to leave even earlier. The people on that bus had spent 25 hours on the road. By noon Tuesday, three hours after they rolled into town, they were summoned for the trip home. They met at a corner near the Supreme Court, walked to the subway, rode it to RFK Stadium, and caught the charter in a vast parking lot, around 4 p.m. Was it worth all the trouble? "I'm tired," said Gregory Roberts, a Detroiter who works for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office.
"But it's a good tired." His voice broke."I'm so glad I was able to experience this with my daughter," he said. The weary passengers headed for the freeway north, bellies full of snacks, leaving behind the debris of protest -- signs, leaflets, empty water bottles. Within minutes, many fell asleep. Soon, the city turned to wooded suburbs. "I was moved by the speeches," said Lisa Bradham, 34, an analyst for Ford and a U-M alumni. "But I'm ready to get home."
Staff writer Shawn Windsor contributed to this report.
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