By Todd A. Heywood
EAST LANSING, MI — Community leaders and activists gathered recently to acknowledge their collective anger and chart a new course for diversity in Michigan in the wake of the 2006 passage of Proposal 2 banning affirmative action.
"There is no way getting around the disappointment we all have felt at the so-called win of Proposal 2," Gov. Jennifer Granholm told the crowd at the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion.
"We are not going to allow that voters’ decision to deter our efforts to have diversity reflected in Michigan government or practice," she went on. "It is critical that we adopt policy and practice that carries out our goals of one Michigan united. We are very clearly committed to making sure diversity is reflected inside state government ranks."
"When someone gets angry, don’t run; take time to understand that anger," said Debbie Dingell, a Democratic activist. "We see conspiracies wherever we are. How about simplifying life? Let’s acknowledge feelings are raw out there and we want to blame. When feelings are raw, it’s a time for change."
Butch Hollowell, counsel for the NAACP, told the crowd about the current status of legal actions to overturn the Proposition 2 amendment to the state constitution. He explained that his group has produced thousands of pages of depositions, expert testimonies and studies about how race-neutral admissions will negatively impact higher education opportunities for people of color. He said all of this was presented in a recently decided federal court case.
Hollowell said the judge agreed with the conclusions of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, but quoted the judge as saying, "I draw a distinction between unequal treatment and advantageous treatment."
Hollowell also said certain types of affirmative action programs remain.
"It is a double standard as it exists now," said Hollowell. "If you are someone who can swim fast or catch a football, there is an affirmative action program for you. If you are a legacy, they have certain affirmative action for you. If you go to certain elite schools, you have affirmative action. The only people who don’t get affirmative action are black people and women. What we have done is taken scissors and trimmed your gender or race."
Ellen Buchman, field director for the Washington, D.C.-based Leadership Council on Civil Rights, said: "We knew going into this fight, in 2006, that if we could not contain Ward Connerly and his allies in Michigan, they would likely exploit this victory and take it elsewhere."
She said Connerly, who started the movement to ban affirmative action in California and brought his battle to Michigan, has since set up ballot proposals in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado, Missouri and Arizona.
"What do those states have in common with Michigan?" Buchman asked. "They are among the most segregated, and they’re the states in economic distress. These two things were turned on their head here in Michigan. It is the same story, the same thing that is happening in these states as happened in Michigan."
Following updates on state government positions and where the affirmative action battle was going nationally, activists split into localized groups to discuss action plans for their local areas.
Todd A. Heywood is the Capitol Correspondent for Between the Lines newspaper, the statewide newspaper for the gay community of Michigan and a fellow for the Center for Independent Media, MichiganMessenger.com.
