The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative

Carl Cohen:

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is a clear and unambiguous statement that will forbid discrimination against any persons or groups on grounds of race or national origin. The claim that signatures were gathered for that initiative by deception is simply false - and it is patronizing to all those who signed it.

The exact words that appeared, in capital letters, at the top of every sheet signed by Michigan voters, were these:

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative

A proposal to amend the constitution of the state of Michigan to prohibit the University of Michigan and other state universities, the state, and all other state entities from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.

Is this petition language so unclear that voters could not grasp its meaning? Of course not. Michigan citizens understand very well what the words in this one sentence mean.

Accusations of dishonesty in gathering signatures are entirely groundless.

More than 90 percent of all signatures gathered (an unusually high percentage) were found by the state election authorities to be valid. Some 318,000 signatures were required; more than 455,000 valid signatures were submitted.

To justify removal of the initiative from the ballot, one would need to conclude that more than 137,000 Michiganders were fraudulently deceived by this language. This is absurd.

The accusation of misunderstanding also is insulting. We know from careful polling that a substantial majority of all Michigan citizens - including a majority of minority citizens - support the MCRI, agreeing that discrimination and preference by race and sex and national origin should be forbidden. No one has been deliberately misled.

A Preemptive Surrender