HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), or Proposal 2 (Michigan 06–2), was a
ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
that passed into Michigan Constitutional law by a 58% to 42% margin on November 7, 2006, according to results officially certified by the
Michigan Secretary of State The Michigan Department of State is administered by the Secretary of State, who is elected on a partisan ballot for a term of four years in gubernatorial elections. The Secretary of State is the third-highest official in the State of Michigan. A ...
. By Michigan law, the Proposal became law on December 22, 2006. MCRI was a citizen initiative aimed at banning consideration of race, color, sex, or religion in admission to colleges, jobs, and other publicly funded institutions – effectively prohibiting some affirmative action by public institutions based on those factors. The Proposal's constitutionality was challenged in federal court, but its constitutionality was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.


Summary of Court Challenges

On 21 March 2008, Judge David M. Lawson of the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (in case citations, E.D. Mich.) is the federal district court with jurisdiction over of the eastern half of the Lower Peninsula of the State of Michigan. The Court is based ...
dismissed a case filed by plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of Proposal 2. Judge Lawson held that Proposal 2 does not violate the United States Constitution. The
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of ...
overturned MCRI on July 1, 2011. Judges R. Guy Cole Jr. and Martha Craig Daughtrey said that "Proposal 2 reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests." Michigan Attorney General
Bill Schuette William Duncan Schuette ( ; born October 13, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd attorney general of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. He was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in 1990 and for Governor of Mi ...
said he would appeal the court ruling. Bill Schuette, Attorney General for the State of Michigan announced his appeal of the Sixth Circuit's decision on July 28, 2011. The MCRI stood in effect until this appeal was complete. On November 16, 2012, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, upheld the earlier ruling that the MCRI was unconstitutional. Schuette then announced his intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in ''
Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action ''Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action'', 572 U.S. 291 (2014), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning affirmative action and race- and sex-based discrimination in public university admissions. ...
'' on March 25, 2013. The Court heard arguments in the case on October 15, 2013, and the Court ruled on April 22, 2014 "that there is no authority ... for the judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit to the voters the determination whether racial preferences may be considered in governmental decisions, in particular with respect to school decisions." Thereby upholding the Constitutionality of the amendment.


Text of the Amendment

The ballot initiative amended the
Michigan Constitution The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. There have been four constitutions approved by the people of Michigan. The fi ...
to include a new section (Section 26 of Article I):


Background

The subject of the proposal has been hotly debated, with the very definition of what it encompasses at the center of the controversy. Proponents argue that it bans programs in public hiring, public employment, and public education that "give preferential treatment to" or "discriminate against" individuals on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, or national origin. Opponents argue that Proposal 2 bans all affirmative action programs in the operation of public employment, education, or contracting. Proponents cite the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the "Equal Protection" clause of the 14th Amendment that forbids the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
or any state from denying "equal protection of the law" to any citizen as models for the proposal. It is a near copy of similar initiatives passed in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
( Proposition 209) and
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
(
Initiative 200 Initiative 200 was a Washington state initiative to the Legislature promoted by California affirmative-action opponent Ward Connerly, and filed by Scott Smith and Tim Eyman. It sought to prohibit racial and gender preferences by state and local go ...
). In 2004, When the first attempt was made to place the measure on the ballot, Gregory Creswell was MCRI spokesperson, volunteer coordinator, and an organizer. In a pre-kick-off announcement, he articulated some reasons he was working for the amendment: "I believe it is wrong for the government and politicians to dictate to an employer who they must or must not hire, just as I believe Jim Crow is immoral and just as I believe apartheid in South Africa was immoral," said Creswell.
* This reference includes a link to search results of the Archives of the Detroit News. Search results contain summaries of articles which may contain the referenced information. Otherwise the full articles are available for purchase at a modest price. Because of the length of the URL, the link may not work properly. If this happens start a
"this URL"
and select the same year of publication as the reference indicates, and place the referenced title in the "Search for:" box.
At the petition kick-off meeting affirmative action advocate Rev. Horace Sheffield III clashed with Creswell after being denied entry to the event.
* This reference includes a link to search results of the Archives of the Detroit News. Search results contain summaries of articles which may contain the referenced information. Otherwise the full articles are available for purchase at a modest price. Because of the length of the URL, the link may not work properly. If this happens start a
"this URL"
and select the same year of publication as the reference indicates, and place the referenced title in the "Search for:" box.
Creswell's rivalry with Sheffield dated back to 2000 when Creswell criticized a protest outside the Detroit Police headquarters, following a couple shootings of suspects by police.
* This reference includes a link to search results of the Archives of the Detroit News. Search results contain summaries of articles which may contain the referenced information. Otherwise the full articles are available for purchase at a modest price. Because of the length of the URL, the link may not work properly. If this happens start a
"this URL"
and select the same year of publication as the reference indicates, and place the referenced title in the "Search for:" box.
After some early court challenges, a state appeals court permitted MCRI petitioners to continue gathering signatures, but the effort was postponed till the 2006 cycle due to time constraints.

* *
* This reference includes a link to search results of the Archives of the Detroit News. Search results contain summaries of articles which may contain the referenced information. Otherwise the full articles are available for purchase at a modest price. Because of the length of the URL, the link may not work properly. If this happens start a
"this URL"
and select the same year of publication as the reference indicates, and place the referenced title in the "Search for:" box.
During the early debate about the proposal shortly following the collection of signatures (508,282 submitted January 6, 2005), the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, a governmental body charged with investigating
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...
violations in the state of Michigan, concluded an investigation of MCRI and asserted that supporters of the MCRI had committed widespread and systematic racially targeted fraud in their petition campaign to secure ballot access. The proponents of the initiative issued a multi-page refutation of the report, including a notation that it was never signed by the commission and alleging misconduct by the Commission itself. In September 2006, after opponents filed a federal lawsuit against the MCRI alleging fraud in the collection of petition signatures, a federal judge in
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
found that some voter fraud had in fact taken place but denied an injunction to have the initiative barred.
* The above article is a broken link. The content is available in another format. The hypertext title "Michigan Civil Rights Commission's Findings of MCRI Fraud" on this page
links to the document here:


First federal lawsuit against MCRI

Oral arguments in a federal lawsuit charging MCRI and the State of Michigan with violating the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were heard on August 17, 2006, with attorneys presenting their closing arguments on the morning of August 18, 2006. The case was heard by U.S. District Court Judge
Arthur Tarnow Arthur Jeffrey Tarnow (February 3, 1942 – January 21, 2022) was an American jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Early life and career Tarnow was born in ...
, who promised to rule on the matter by September 8, 2006, to give officials enough time to print up the ballot. During the first day of the hearing, hundreds of protesters picketed outside the courthouse chanting among other things, "Racist fraud, hell no! MCRI has got to go!" The lawsuit was filed by Operation King's Dream, Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repres ...
, Detroit City Council, American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, Keep the Vote No Takeover,
AFSCME The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is the largest trade union of public employees in the United States. It represents 1.3 million public sector employees and retirees, including health care workers, correcti ...
Locals 207, 312, and 2920, and UAW 2200 as well as several individual voters.
Michigan Governor The governor of Michigan, is the head of government of Michigan and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto appropriation bills passed b ...
Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-American lawyer, educator, author, political commentator, and politician serving as the 16th United States secretary of energy since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she pre ...
submitted an
amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
in support of the plaintiffs. On August 29, 2006, the case was decided with Judge Tarnow, a Democratic judicial appointee, refusing to remove the initiative from the ballot. However, Judge Tarnow declared that "MCRI engaged in systematic voter fraud by telling voters that were signing a petition supporting affirmative action." However, because the case was not decided on these grounds, this statement is legally characterized as "dicta"—judicial commentary that is not relevant to the outcome of a case. Tarnow also found the testimony of Jennifer Gratz (MCRI's executive director) in the court to be evasive and misleading. His stated reason for refusing an injunction to remove the MCRI from the ballot was the MCRI "targeted all Michigan voters for deception without regard to race." He ruled that the Voting Rights Act was not violated because it "is not a general anti-voter fraud statute, but rather prohibits practices which result in unequal access to the political process because of race." Luke Massie, national co-chair of the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights & Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (
BAMN The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, commonly shortened to By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), is a militant, American Far-left politics, far-left group that partic ...
) announced that the plaintiffs would appeal Tarnow's decision to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying "It makes no sense to conclude there was fraud and allow the vote to go forward." The 6th Circuit rejected the appeal in mid-September.


Voting and Poll Results

On November 27, 2006, Proposal 2 was certified officially by the Michigan Secretary of State to have passed by a margin of 58% to 42% (2,141,010 "Yes" votes to 1,555,691 "No" votes). The last reported poll of October 15, by
The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...
, showed MCRI to have up to a 50–41% lead. In another Free PressLocal 4 Michigan poll conducted by Selzer & Co. Inc. of Des Moines between October 8 to October 11 of 643 likely voters, it was shown that 41% were in favor of the MCRI, while 44% opposed the measure, and 15% of the voter poll were undecided. The poll had a margin of error of 3.9% making the poll a statistical dead-heat. Another poll, from mid-September 2006, showed MCRI was up 48–37 with 15% undecided, with the pollster admitting that his previous polls had not used the exact language of the proposal until the Sept. poll. The entire polling process highlighted an ongoing debate about the scientific value of modern phone polling on questions of race or controversial social issues where the polled members of the public may be "embarrassed" by
social desirability bias In social science research, social-desirability bias is a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting "good behavi ...
to give a truthful response about their intended vote for fear that the interviewer will judge them.


Board of Canvassers Meeting

In July 2005, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers declined to certify the MCRI proposal for Michigan's November 2006 ballot after hearing allegations that a significant number of signatures were obtained by telling supporters of affirmative action that the petition was likewise, in support of affirmative action. Counter-allegations were made by MCRI supporters that the allegations were fabricated and that the Board of Canvassers' decision-process itself was being improperly influenced by politics because Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer was "giving orders" to the two members of the Board appointed by Democrats, and backed up by the linked videotape shot by MCRI Treasurer and publisher Chetly Zarko. Despite the deadlocked vote by the Canvassers and their inability to certify the petition as a result, in October of the same year the
Michigan Court of Appeals The Michigan Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court of the state of Michigan. It was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1963, and commenced operations in 1965. Its opinions are reported both in an official publication of ...
ordered the board to certify the petitions. On December 14, 2005, in Lansing, Michigan, while attempting to comply with that court order to certify the petitions, the board's four members were scheduled to make the final vote to certify the petitions for the November ballot. However, the meeting attended by hundreds of Detroit high school students. The crowd began to shout "No voter fraud," until they became so loud that the members left the room adjourning until 2pm. Chanting, "They say Jim Crow! We say hell no!," the emotion-surged crowd of students continued until a table was overturned in the commotion and the Lansing police came in to control the situation. Opponents of MCRI labeled their own conduct "civil disobedience" while proponents argued it crossed the line into outright violence and intentional intimidation. Video of the situation can be seen here. After the protest, the election panel again failed to certify the petitions with a vote of 2–1, falling short of the required three votes. Republican board members Katherine Degrow and Lyn Banks voted in favor with Democrats Paul Mitchell voting no and Doyle O'Connor not voting. The meeting received considerable media attention because of the protest. In the months following the controversial board meeting, Mitchell resigned from the board and O'Connor was charged with contempt of court; however the charges were dismissed after O'Connor sought disclosure of improper communications between the chief judge and the Republican leadership of the Legislature. O'Connor later testified against the MCRI at the August 17 federal court hearing, relaying how he had witnessed two African-American women circulating the anti-affirmative action petition in Detroit telling signers that it was in support of affirmative action.


"Preferential Treatment"

Proponents of the MCRI claim that the initiative will make illegal only those programs and policies, affecting university admissions, public employment, and contracting, that grant "preferential treatment" based on gender, race, or ethnicity. These claims were disputed by some opponents who cite
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
's Proposition 209, alleging that the language of that proposal outlawed "all affirmative action policies" and programs, and MCRI's language is nearly identical. Proponents counter this argument by arguing that while MCRI is nearly identical to California's amendment, neither MCRI or 209 outlawed "all" or any "affirmative action." They point to programs such as California's use of socio-economic indicators, outreach targeted at the 150 lowest scoring high schools, and traditional anti-discrimination enforcement as some among many race-neutral types of "affirmative action". On March 7, 2007, however, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which had previously fought against Proposal 2, issued a report at the behest of the Governor, taking the position that Proposal 2 did not eliminate "all" affirmative action. In their summary of a 63-page report, Linda Parker, chair of the commission, now agreed with Proposal 2 advocates, "With this Report, the Commission and Department confirm that Proposal 2 does not mean the end of equal opportunity or diversity in Michigan,". The Report explicitly cites the difference between "preferential treatment" and "affirmative action". Proponent of Proposal 2, Chetly Zarko, argued that this "flip-flop" by the Commission not only proved MCRI was correct all along about the legal issues and difference, but that it disproved the commission's report alleging "fraud" in signature-collection since the commission had previously alleged in its June 2006 fraud-allegation report that petitioners ''should'' have used the words "affirmative action" in their presentation..


Post Election

Several groups have challenged the constitutional amendment since its passage. On November 8, 2006, BAMN called a press conference announcing that they had launched a second lawsuit against Proposal 2 in conjunction with United for Equality and Affirmative Action and Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, claiming that it violates both the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the First Amendment as affirmed by the Supreme Court decision, ''Grutter v. Bollinger''. That same day, about 2,000 students gathered on the diag at the University of Michigan where University President Mary Sue Coleman gave a speech in which she promised U-M would go to court to defend its efforts to promote diversity, even though the people of Michigan had voted against affirmative action. Two weeks later, on November 21, Grand Rapids Mayor
George Heartwell George Heartwell is an American politician. He was the mayor of the city of Grand Rapids in the U.S. state of Michigan. He was sworn in on January 1, 2004, and exited his mayoral duties after ending his third term on January 16, 2016. Education ...
said he was considering having the city file a federal lawsuit to overturn Proposal 2. On December 19, U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson ruled that the state's three largest public universities—the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, Michigan State University, and
Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...
—could delay implementation of Proposal until July 1, 2007. The universities had filed a lawsuit seeking the delay, charging fairness in admissions, in response to BAMN's lawsuit in which all three universities were named as defendants. The
Center for Individual Rights The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is a non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the firm is "dedicated to the defense of individual liberties against the increasingly aggressive and unchecked auth ...
has asked the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Lawson's ruling and force the universities to adhere to this amendment, to the Michigan Constitution, immediately. On December 29, a 3-judge panel of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals lifted Judge Lawson's injunction granting the 3 universities the July 1 implementation delay and ordered them to implement Proposal 2 immediately. The city of
Lansing Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...
has also filed a lawsuit to delay implementation of Prop 2 until July 2007. In Detroit, Matt Allen, a spokesman for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said the city illegally "will continue doing business as it has been" in spite of the passage of the statewide initiative. Another lawsuit has been filed in federal court by the NAACP and the ACLU to block the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. On January 4, 2007, the Center for Individual Rights filed a lawsuit in Washtenaw Circuit Court, asking a judge to order the University of Michigan to immediately comply with Proposal 2, and abandon their affirmative action programs. The case was resolved on January 29 when Eric Russell, whom the Center for Individual Rights was representing voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit. Jan. 9–10: BAMN held a press conference at Cass Tech High School in Detroit announcing that their appeal of the Federal Appeals Court decision overturning the delay of the ban on affirmative action. The next day, after placing holds on admissions, the University of Michigan announced that they will comply with the ban on affirmative action. Hours later, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens responded to BAMN's appeal of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturning the delay of Proposal 2's implementation and ordered all briefs due by January 17. U-M, Wayne State, MSU, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm all filed briefs in support. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox urged Stevens to deny the injunction. On January 19, the Supreme Court denied BAMN's appeal without comment. On Thursday, February 15, BAMN submitted 2,000 petitions to the Board of Regents of the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
demanding that there be no drop in minority enrollment. The following Tuesday, on February 20, the Michigan Student Assembly, the elected student government of U-M passed a resolution demanding that there be no drop in underrepresented minority student enrollment. On Friday, July 1, 2011, the Federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held the amendment unconstitutional on the grounds that it "reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests," and thus violates the 14th Amendment. Attorney General Bill Schuette then announced that he would appeal the ruling and ask to have the case re-heard "en banc," by all active judges rather than a panel of three. On Thursday, November 3, 2011, the Equal Justice Society and more than a dozen other organizations announced that they had filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, urging the court to strike down Michigan's Proposal 2 as unconstitutional. The brief authors argue that Proposal 2 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution by creating procedural barriers for people of color. On 16 November 2012, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc upheld the earlier ruling that the Initiative is unconstitutional. Supporters announced their intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. On March 25, 2013, the Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari, agreeing to hear the case. Arguments were heard during the Supreme Court term beginning in October 2013. On April 22, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative as Constitutional.


Effects

On Friday, February 16, 2007, the University of Michigan released admissions data showing that, in a period that includes the time after Proposal 2 was implemented, minority admissions of primarily lower test scores declined 25% from the same period a year before. The data also show that in the period immediately before Proposal 2 was implemented, minority admissions was up 55% from the same period in 2006. A spokeswoman for the university, Julie Peterson, has said that since the numbers aren't final and since so many minority students applied early, the drop cannot necessarily be attributed to the amendment itself.


Notable endorsers

Notable endorsers of the MCRI include: * Michigan Association of Scholars *
National Association of Scholars The National Association of Scholars (NAS) is an American non-profit politically conservative advocacy organization, with a particular interest in education. It opposes a perceived political correctness on college campuses and supports a return ...
*
Ward Connerly Wardell Anthony "Ward" Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is an American political and anti-affirmative action activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent (1993–2005). He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civi ...
: California businessman who led a similar campaign in California with Proposition 209 * Jennifer Gratz: executive director of the MCRI, plaintiff in the Supreme Court case '' Gratz v. Bollinger'' * Barbara Grutter: plaintiff in '' Grutter v. Bollinger'', co-chair of Towards a Fair Michigan * Michigan Attorney General Michael (Mike) Cox * Bill Schuette, Mike Cox's successor as Michigan Attorney General * Michigan State Representative Leon Drolet: steering committee chair of MCRI * William B. Allen: Michigan State University political science professor, co-chair of Towards a Fair Michigan * Dr. Carl Cohen:
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
philosophy professor * Chetly Zark

former Treasurer/Director of Media, MCRI, political consultant * Doug Tietz: MCRI campaign manager, former U-M YAF Chair * Greg Creswell: Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Michigan *
Scotty Boman Scott Avery Boman (born April 14, 1962) * Edited by WDIV Staff http://clickondetroit.com (website). is an American Libertarian politician from Michigan. He has consistently earned among the top votes of any third-party candidate in every Michiga ...
: Libertarian Candidate for Lt. Governor of Michigan * Reverend Jerry Zandstra: Republican primary candidate for US Senate, Michigan * Howard Schwartz: Professor, Oakland University * Arthur White: Professor, Western Michigan University *
Council of Conservative Citizens The Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC or CCC) is an American white supremacist organization. Founded in 1985, it advocates white nationalism, and supports some paleoconservative causes. In the organization's statement of principles, it st ...
*
Libertarian Party of Michigan The Libertarian Party of Michigan is a Michigan state political party advocating a libertarian ideology and the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party of the United States. The party gained primary ballot access status in 2016 because of the ...


Opposition

Notable opponents of the MCRI include: * One United Michigan *
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
( NAACP) * Former Michigan Governor
Jennifer Granholm Jennifer Mulhern Granholm (born February 5, 1959) is a Canadian-American lawyer, educator, author, political commentator, and politician serving as the 16th United States secretary of energy since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she pre ...
* Former Michigan gubernatorial candidate
Dick DeVos Richard Marvin DeVos Jr. (born October 21, 1955) is an American businessman and author. The son of Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he served as CEO of the multi-level marketing company from 1993 to 2002. In 2006, DeVos ran for Governor of ...
* Former Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repres ...
*
Oakland County Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the metropolitan Detroit area, located northwest of the city. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 1,274,395, making it the second-most populous county in Michigan, b ...
sheriff and 2006
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
candidate Mike Bouchard. * By Any Means Necessary (
BAMN The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigrant Rights, and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary, commonly shortened to By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), is a militant, American Far-left politics, far-left group that partic ...
) * Grand Rapids Mayor
George Heartwell George Heartwell is an American politician. He was the mayor of the city of Grand Rapids in the U.S. state of Michigan. He was sworn in on January 1, 2004, and exited his mayoral duties after ending his third term on January 16, 2016. Education ...
* Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition * Association of Michigan Universities (AMU) * Michigan Civil Rights Commission *
Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...
* Detroit City Council * American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC) *
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
( ACLU) * Detroit Federation of Teachers *
Arab American Institute The Arab American Institute (AAI) is a non-profit membership organization that advocates for the interests of Arab-Americans. Founded in 1985 by James Zogby, the brother of pollster John Zogby, the organization is based in Washington, D.C. The o ...
* Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) *
Socialist Party of Michigan The Socialist Party of Michigan (SPMI) is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan. A party by the same name was the affiliate of the Socialist Party of America from 1901 until the national party renamed itself in ...
(SPMI)


See also

* Affirmative Action *
Ward Connerly Wardell Anthony "Ward" Connerly (born June 15, 1939) is an American political and anti-affirmative action activist, businessman, and former University of California Regent (1993–2005). He is also the founder and the chairman of the American Civi ...
* Gratz v. Bollinger * Grutter v. Bollinger


References


External links


Michigan Attorney General Bill Schute's press release (Announcing his appeal of the 6th Circuit's ruling to the Supreme Court)

One United Michigan (opposed to MCRI)

MCRI proponents

Equality Talk

MichiganProposal2.org



BAMN

Zarko Research & Consulting (blog of former Director of Media Relations for MCRI)

Why Voters Should Approve the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
{{AAUS History of affirmative action in the United States Government of Michigan Opposition to affirmative action