Dan Kowalski’s Commentary

IJJ Senior Fellow Victor Merina continues his ground-level reporting from Michigan on the battle around anti-affirmative action ballot Proposal 2. Read his second report below, download a copy of Ellis Cose' report on this matter. and join the fray in our online forum on Proposal 2. Just click on the "Killing Affirmative Action" box on the top right side of this page.

 Report from Michigan: Part Two

By Victor Merina 

As their months-long political campaign drew to a close on Monday, the opponents of Michigan’s anti-affirmative action ballot measure embarked on a statewide road show aimed at turning out voters to defeat Proposal 2.

And as they crisscrossed the state, they denounced the man who has forced today’s vote and questioned everything about him, from his out-of-state ties to his apparent embrace of the Ku Klux Klan’s support for his ballot measure from which he later distanced himself. Ward Connerly, the former University of California regent, has been the engine and the public face behind Proposal 2 along with Jennifer Gratz, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that challenged the admissions policies of the University of Michigan.

But as opponents of Proposal 2 rallied supporters on the final full day of campaigning, many singled out Connerly as the man with a dangerous mission. They portrayed him as a person who has successfully spearheaded similar measures in California and Washington state and who has eyes on spreading his anti-affirmative action movement across the country. “Michigan is a battleground,” the Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III told a cheering crowd outside Flint’s City Hall. “Let him go no further than Michigan. Let’s stop him here!” Rivers, the chief operating officer of the NAACP, had flown from Baltimore to join the caravan of critics urging a “no” vote on a measure that see as historic in the struggle for affirmative action.

Although most of the speakers were Democrats, Republican Rep. Joe Schwarz of Battle Creek stepped to the microphone to say that his party is “four-square against the proposal” as is the state’s entire congressional delegation. A former president of the University of Michigan alumni association, Schwarz warned that efforts to diversify public colleges “will go up in smoke” if voters don’t defeat “this ridiculous proposal.” If passed, Proposal 2 would amend the state constitution to bar affirmative action programs based on race and gender in admitting students to public universities, hiring government employees and awarding government contracts.

In a campaign that has relied largely on television and radio ads, Connerly and Gratz argue that affirmative action programs are corrupt and unfair and that it is time to jettison preferential programs based on race, ethnicity or gender. While a weekend poll by the Detroit Free Press showed that voters were leaning toward rejecting the measure, another survey released Monday evening had Proposal 2 leading among likely voters but with a large undecided pool still remaining.

The poll numbers in the ABC-12/EPIC-MRA survey has 49% of voters in support of the measure, 46% against and 13% undecided. Amid that uncertainty and with voter turnout the key to today’s outcome, the opponents of Proposal 2 took to the road Monday from Lansing to Grand Rapids and from Traverse City to Detroit to call for the faithful to reject the measure. In Flint where more than half the 125,000 residents are African American, the speakers warned that the impact of Proposal 2 would be a step backward for civil rights. But they also stressed that women and girls also would be jeopardized with the ban on gender-based programs for public colleges and health care service. One woman in the crowd, wearing a head scarf and hoisting a “No on 2” sign, said she was there to represent her local Islamic center as well as her daughter and sisters who would be affected by Proposal 2. “Sure affirmative action has some flaws as does anything,” said Muna Jondy, a 31-year-old lawyer, “but give me some other options. Don’t just discard it.”

In a vociferous rally that featured songs and sermons, one of the most dramatic moments occurred when Michigan Sen. Carl Levin pulled out a newspaper and pointed to a recent story about a video that shows Connerly apparently welcoming local KKK members who have embraced Proposal 2. In the videotaped interview that was posted on the Internet, Connerly said: “If the Ku Klux Klan thinks equality is right then God bless them for finally reaching the point where logic and reason are applying, are being applied instead of hate.”

As he displayed the newspaper story, Levin said he was “sickened” by Connerly and his acceptance of support from a white supremacist group. “We’re going to send him back to California and hope he takes the Michigan KKK with him,” Levin said to cheers and applause. Doug Tietz, campaign manager for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative which is backing Proposal 2, later dismissed the notion that Connerly is sympathetic to the KKK and said those quotes were taken from a “two to three hour interview” Connerly gave for a documentary that has not yet aired.

In his own written statement, Connerly maintained that “equality before the law” should be the ideal and practice of government regardless of race. “Throughout my life I have made absolutely clear my disdain for the KKK,” he added. “However, like all Americans, I hope that this group will move beyond its ugly history and agree that equality before the law is the ideal. If they or any group accepts equality for all people, I will be the first to welcome them.”