Second Prop 2 debate held

October 30, 2006 —

by Nick Kaiser

SVSU associate professor of political science, Erik Trump, moderates the panel discussion of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative Tuesday in the Alan W. Ott Auditorium. The discussion was the second such event on campus this year highlighting the hotly debated proposal.

The second debate to discuss whether or not affirmative action programs should be banned from use in state education, hiring, and contracting purposes brought together opposing sides last Tuesday in the Regional Education Center's Alan W. Ott Auditorium.

The issue brought forth by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative gained enough signatures to force its way onto the November ballot as Proposal 2. Several organizations filed lawsuits attempting to block the MCRI from getting on the ballot, arguing the groups violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 through intentional manipulation and misrepresentation when acquiring signatures. U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Dannow agreed that the MCRI engaged in voter fraud in his statement, but declined to remove the proposal from the ballot, writing that the MCRI defrauded all voters, regardless of their ethnicity, and such, did not violate the Civil Rights Act.

Those arguing in favor of Proposal 2 (which would ban affirmative action programs) were Gregory Brodeur and Diane Carey, contributors to the Web site racefreezone.com.

Arguing against Proposal 2 (in support of affirmative action programs) was Diane Bowden, Executive Director of the YMCA of Bay City, and Louis Rocha, the head of Worker-to-Worker UAW Local 467.

For Carey, affirmative action programs are little more than reverse discrimination, no matter what the title.

"My point is that diversity is natural. Discrimination, whatever, you call it, is not natural," Carey said.

Bowden argued that affirmative action programs ultimately improve the quality of potential workers.

"What affirmative action programs give me as an employer," Bowden said, "are a wide variety of qualified applicants."

Brodeur argued that "affirmative action, by and large, helps people that are already middle class," as opposed to helping the underprivileged, regardless of race or gender.

Rocha stressed the wide diversity of opposition to Proposal 2, including Governor Jennifer Granholm and gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.

"Everyone has come together - this proposal is wrong," Rocha stated.

For both sides, Proposal 2 is an attempt to get the best job applicants. Bowden argues that affirmative action programs break down barriers that would disenfranchise the opportunities of women and minorities.

"Expanding the pool and getting a wide spread of candidates to pick from is crucial," Bowden said.

Brodeur argued that state affirmative action programs had the opposite effect.

"What we need to compete is for the government to hire the most competent people, no matter what their color," Bowden said.

Rocha argued that the repeal of state affirmative action programs would mark a return to the "good old boy" system, where people get a job based on whom they know, rather than their actual abilities and talents.

Carey challenged this notion, positing that race and gender place people into artificial groups.

"There is no individuality if you are in a group by law," Carey argued.