Michigan votes against affirmative action

Michigan voters approved a ban on the use of race and gender as factors in admissions decisions at the state’s public universities and colleges and in government contracting. Proposal 2, or the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, bans some affirmative action programs and was approved by 58% of Michigan voters, as Michigan became the third state in a decade to prohibit certain affirmative action practices. Voters in California and Washington both approved similar measures earlier in the past decade.

Opponents of the measure worry that its passage will roll back progress made toward equality for minorities and women and fear that the battle over affirmative action programs will quickly spread to other states. Supporters argue that affirmative action gives a decisive advantage to women and minorities by unfairly keeping qualified mainstream individuals from getting jobs and gaining university admissions. The initiative was put forward by supporters of Jennifer Gratz, a white student from suburban Detroit who claimed that she was denied admission to the University of Michigan in 1995 because she was not Black, American Indian or Hispanic.

A statistical analysis of the vote based on voter interviews revealed that:

• Most voters who said their families were getting ahead financially supported the proposal, but voters who said they were falling behind financially opposed it.
• Voters who identified themselves as Republicans tended to favor the proposal, while Democrats tended to oppose it.

Court challenges to the partial ban on affirmative action are sure to follow. Here is a short breakdown of how this ban will affect the hiring and admissions practices in state and local governments as well as public schools and universities in Michigan:

• Though it will depend on how the courts interpret the proposal, programs that exclude certain groups will probably be affected, as this type of ban on affirmative action will make it more difficult for Michigan’s local governments to target, recruit and hire women and minorities.
• In public colleges, universities and K-12 schools, admissions and hiring practices, outreach programs and the awarding of scholarships, grants and contracts will be affected. According to estimates by the University of Michigan, without affirmative action the combined enrollment of African American, Hispanic and American Indians will drop from 14% to between 4 to 6%.
• Michigan’s government hiring and contracting will not really be affected by this ban on affirmative action, because an earlier state policy that required a portion of state contracts and purchases to be steered toward companies owned by women and minorities was found unconstitutional. Federal courts determined that Michigan failed to show there had been systematic discrimination by state agencies against minorities and women in the past.

Source:
FoxNews.com