One of the few silver linings on election night was the passage of Proposition 2 — the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative — by a margin of 58 percent to 42 percent. Everyone but the voters in Michigan opposed the MCRI — the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, big business, the universities, women’s groups, “civil rights” groups.
Proponents Ward Connerly and Jennifer Gratz wielded a slingshot against the onslaught. An editorial (subscribers only) in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal noted:
The opponents of Proposal 2…also rolled out Tommy Amaker and Tom Izzo, the men’s basketball coaches at Michigan and Michigan State University, respectively. They declared at a press conference that the initiative would hurt the university system by reducing “diversity.”
***
[T]he proponents of the Civil Rights Initiative sent the two coaches a question: “Do you use quotas or preferences when you choose the players on your basketball teams?”
Terry Pell of the Center for Individual Rights updated us on the MCRI election results through the evening on Tuesday. Yesterday he wrote:
Prop. 2 was a tremendous victory, wasn’t it? I thought you’d like to hear what happened today in Michigan. It seems our opponents will not give up. University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman vowed to take every available legal avenue to avoid implementing Prop. 2. Here is a link to her rather remarkable statement.
In addition, [MCRI opponent] By Any Means Necessary attorney Shanta Driver announced that it will file its own legal challenge, claiming Prop. 2 violates the 14th Amendment. And that’s in addition to BAMN’s existing lawsuit against MCRI, which currently is on
appeal to the Sixth Circuit.
Rest assured that these legal efforts border on the frivolous. Prop. 2 is on solid legal footing and, whether they like it or not, Michigan state officials are bound to follow its requirements. We will use every available legal option to press this point.
I will write more to you shortly about what happened yesterday and what we are doing to take advantage of the opportunity it presents. But I thought you’d like to hear about the tack our opponents are taking.
All honor to Ward Connerly, Jennifer Gratz and the Center for Indidual Rights for the stunning victory over the Goliaths of racial discrimination.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.