A ballot initiative was proposed Wednesday that would allow Michigan voters the option to prohibit preferential treatment based on race or gender.
With the support of several Republican state representatives by his side, the chairman of the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Coalition, Ward Connerly, announced the campaign for the ballot initiative at the state Capitol.
If passed, the initiative would become a constitutional amendment against the U.S. Supreme Court's recent affirmative action ruling involving the University of Michigan admissions policy. The nation's highest court ruled that race can be a factor in admissions, but that colleges and universities cannot use a preferential point-based system for race and gender.
"The Supreme Court ruling set us back by sanctioning racial discrimination with a 5-4 stroke of the pen," Connerly said.
Republican Reps. Leon Drolet and Jack Brandenburg, both of Macomb County, will be the co-chairmen of the MCRI, Michigan Civil Rights, Initiative Steering Committee, an organizational effort to raise funds and gather petition signatures for the ballot proposal.
Connerly will begin his campaign for the estimated 320,000 signatures needed to pass the November 2004 initiative ballot in early September, an effort that could cost between $800,000 and 900,000.
Matt Thome, communications chairperson for the MSU college of Republicans, says he supports the initiative.
"The public universities are funded by tax dollars and I believe that the ballot should be put to a vote so that the citizens can decide for themselves if they want affirmative action," the political theory junior said.
Connerly said the initiative, which has been supported by 21 lawmakers, will require the combined time efforts of many individuals.
He was responsible for leading the ballot initiatives that eliminated racial and gender preferences in California in 1996 and Washington state in 1998.
The initiative proposed by Connerly faced opposition from a small group of protesters on the steps of the Capitol.
Holding up a sign with the words "No ruling back civil rights in Michigan" was Jessica Curtin an active member of BAMN, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration, and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary.
Curtin, a U-M graduate student, said BAMN has created a boycott campaign against any company that funds Connerly's campaign.
"It is clear everyone who supports Connerly has taken a stand for segregation by backing him," Curtin said.
Opponents of the initiative are confident it will not pass.
"We saved (affirmative action) at the supreme court and we will defeat Connerly's segregationist campaign in Michigan," Curtin said. "Affirmative action will be maintained."
