MICHIGAN VOTES AGAINST DISCRIMINATION!

This November, we in Michigan will be voting for or against MCRI, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

This is a proposed constitutional amendment. I am usually against tampering with constitutions in general, especially our Federal Constitution but this is a State Constitution which I do not hold in the same reverence as I do the federal one.

Anyway, this proposed (State) amendment wants to ban affirmative action programs based on RACE, GENDER & ETHNICITY for purposes of public employment, education or contracting purposes.

This whole initiative stemmed from the University of Michigan’s program to give preferential treatment to blacks as part of an admissions policy. The matter went to the Supreme Court where the policy was judged unconstitutional with stipulations. Some people wanted the policy to be very plain and simple (black & white) and therefore they suggested amending the state constitution to say – NO DISCRIMINATION – PERIOD!

We are all painfully aware of our nation’s discriminatory past. It has been a long and tumultuous road to legally end racial and gender discrimination. We have also gone through a period of adjustment where those who were discriminated against were given preferential treatment to make up for passed discriminatory treatment. Some say the adjustment period is over, some say it needs to continue for quite some time.

I am basically a realist so I don’t look at things only philosophically or based only on principal but on the actual situation at hand – today! I personally think we have come a long way and even though I personally know some diehard racists, I believe they are in a rapidly dieing minority.

As an employer, I don’t see color, sex or ethnicity when I hire and my management does not either. I believe we have reached a stage where talent and skills prevail. I am not so naïve as to believe everyone acts like me but I truly believe that a majority of businesses and institutions do. I feel people who want to prolong the period of adjustment (affirmative action) are just freeloading on society’s guilt trip or are not realists.

As you notice the amendment talks about discrimination only according to race, gender and ethnicity and that the areas it is concerned about is public employment, education and contracting purposes although education is what started this whole thing in motion.

Institutions can still give certain groups special considerations but not based on race, sex or ethnicity. Schools still can give preferential treatment to, let’s say, students that are poor or the first ones in their families to attend college. Cities may look at giving a certain amount of contracts to locally owned companies – see, no race, sex or ethnicity involved.

I think MCRI makes sense. What does not make sense to me was to give a black kid from Detroit admission to UofM over all other qualified applicants because he is black and from Detroit. That kid, statistically, would not make it past the second year. It would make more sense to fix grade schools and high schools in Detroit to give that black kid from Detroit the same academic chance at admission to UofM as everybody else.

I read all of the opposing views and I feel they just don’t hold water even though many, many serious groups are actively trying to defeat this proposal.

Let diversity happen naturally; don’t force it. Women are already the majority at universities and taking science and math classes so don’t despair for them; they will be your bosses in no time.

A vote for MCRI is a vote against discrimination and I think this is a good thing for our society.


Janusz