Tempers Flare Over Prop. 2 in Michigan
by Jim Brown
October 24, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A proposed constitutional amendment in Michigan would end the use of preference based on race, gender, and skin color in university admissions and government hiring. But opposition to the initiative has gotten ugly. "The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative" will go before voters in that state on November 7. Proposal 2, as it is known, was launched in response to a 2003 Supreme Court decision allowing colleges and universities to consider a student's race when making admissions decisions. The plaintiff in that case, Jennifer Gratz, sued the University of Michigan in 1997 for discrimination after being denied admission.
UM alum Doug Tietz, campaign manager for the initiative, explains that if the measure passes, discriminatory admissions policies like the one at his alma mater will be scrapped.
"Right now, if two students are of the same qualifications, there's a one percent chance that the white student will be chosen versus a 'minority' student -- and that's wrong," says Tietz. "I think everybody deserves a fair chance. And if this passes, policies like that will be eliminated so that everybody gets a fair shake rather than just a pro forma, 'We'll except your application but,' wink and a nod, 'you know that there's preferences out there.'"
According to the campaign manager, some people in the state are vehemently opposed to the initiative. In fact, he says, two or three police officers are needed for security when Jennifer Gratz speaks about Prop. 2 at public events -- and that's an unfortunate situation, he adds.
"Even then, it's still sometimes very scary," he relates. "People will spit on her, throw pop at her; there's pushing and shoving, and sometimes we just have to get into the car quick before it gets out of hand."
According to Tietz, the "whole problem with this debate" in Michigan is that it is no longer about race preferences -- "and that's what it really should be about," he says. A similar ballot measure pushed by civil rights icon Ward Connerly passed in California nearly a decade ago.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
