Move to ban affirmative action in Michigan moves forward

A state elections panel has given the go-ahead to a group opposing affirmative action to circulate petitions in Jan., the Detroit Free Press reported. The group, calling itself the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, hopes to get the issue on the Nov. 2004 ballot. Over 300,000 signatures will be needed in order to accomplish this.
Groups opposing the elimination of affirmative action have formed in response. One group, called Citizens for a United Michigan, is made up of business, community, and religious leaders, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action has taken the issue of the petition to court, calling the petitions misleading to potential signers.
A group of activists calling themselves the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) are mounting pressure on Michigan politicians who support the ban and are also calling for a boycott of Coors, a major funder of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing policy think-tank. Heritage Foundation is a supporter of anti-affirmative action policies. Joseph Coors also funded a major lawsuit against affirmative action in 1990.
BAMN originally started in California as a response to the challenge to affirmative action in the University of California system. They recently worked to defeat a constitutional amendment proposed by Ward Connerly, a black Republican seeking to eliminate affirmative action in California.
The fight over affirmative action in Michigan stems from the June 2003 ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger that upheld the University of Michigan's admission policies. For more information about BAMN go to http://www.bamn.com.