Reach OUT: Building bridges with allied communities

Anti-diversity amendment divisive and dangerous

LANSING – The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, and anti-Affirmative Action group, turned in more than 500,000 signatures to state elections officials Jan. 6. They need 317,757 signatures to put a constitutional amendment banning Affirmative Action on the November 2006 ballot.
The move is headed by Ward Connerly, a Californian who successfully led the effort to dismantle Affirmative Action in his home state in 1996 and led a failed related initiative there last year.
Michigan election officials will review the signatures over the next few months. Connerly said he fully expects the signatures to be certified.
Citizens For a United Michigan, a coalition of Michigan organizations formed to oppose eliminating Affirmative Action, called the issue divisive. Its members include Triangle Foundation, Michigan NAACP, ACLU of Michigan, and the Michigan Catholic Council.
Another group opposing MCRI is BAMN, or By Any Means Necessary, “a national organization dedicated to building a new mass civil rights movement,” according to their web site. BAMN calls the proposal “dangerous” and MCRI “a fraud.”
Polling by Citizens For a United Michigan shows that voters informed that the Connerly amendment immediately eliminates all Affirmative Action programs oppose it by a 54-35 margin.
For more info and how to help, visit Citizens for a United Michigan at www.oneunitedmichigan.org and BAMN at www.bamn.com.