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Affirmative Action Ban Passes in Michigan
UM vows to seek legal remedies; drop in Black,
Latino and Native enrollment expected
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Asian American Village Acting
Editor
Ann Arbor - Nov. 8, 2006 - The controversial
Proposal 2 to ban Affirmative Action in Michigan passed by a wide
margin, becoming the third state, after California and Washington, to
outlaw preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on race,
gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin for public employment,
education, or contracting purposes.
The
Detroit Free Press reports, “With 99 percent of precincts reporting,
58%, or 2,129,506 people, voted yes on Proposal 2 and 42%, or 1,538,520
voters, opposed it.”
Dave Waymire, spokesman for One United Michigan,
the major opposition group to Proposal 2, told the
Detroit News, "Sadly it appears that voters have been deceived by a
fraudulent campaign … that serves to divide Michigan and ignores the
culture of inequity that divides our state and country….We are the most
segregated state in the country and we are the most segregated
metropolitan region in the country. That fact is a major impediment to
our growth. If we don't overcome that, the state and region will
continue to drift. This ballot proposal makes it hard to overcome those
important serious racial differences."
With the passage of Proposal 2, the enrollment of
Black, Hispanic and Native American students at the University of
Michigan is expected to drop from 12-14 percent of the student body to
about 4-6 percent. In a
statement released Tuesday, University of Michigan President Mary
Sue Coleman states: “Regardless of what happens to Proposal 2, the
University of Michigan will remain fully and completely committed to
diversity. I am determined to do whatever it takes to sustain our
excellence by recruiting and retaining a diverse community of students,
faculty and staff."
Coleman also stated that the university would
explore all legal options available to defend the university’s
admissions practices.
The next step for supporters of affirmative action
and opponents of Proposal 2, including the University of Michigan, will
be the courts as they challenge the legality and constitutionality of
this amendment, according to the
Detroit News.
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Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
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 Frances
Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American from California
who now divides her time between Michigan and the Big Island of
Hawaii. She is currently an acting editor for IMDiversity.com's
Asian-American Village,
where she writes most frequently on culture, family, arts, and
lifestyles topics. Her articles have appeared in Pacific Citizen,
Asian Reader, Nikkei West, Sampan, Mavin, Eurasian Nation, and
various Families with Children from China publications. She has also
worked in anthropology and international development in Nepal, and
in nonprofits and small business start-ups in the US. She is also
the Outreach Coordinator of the Ann Arbor Chinese Center of Michigan
and a much sought public speaker. She has four children. She can be reached at
fkwang@aol.com.
IMDiversity.com is committed to presenting diverse points of view.
However, the viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of
the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or
employees at IMD.
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