Politics and Society

Politics and Society
by Jocie Fong


“Civil Rights Initiative” threatens beneficial state programs...
The words “civil rights” are almost always associated in our public discourse with one of this nation’s proudest accomplishments: the legislative victories of the 1950s and 60s, which committed the United States to equality under the law for all people. Affirmative action and integration programs were and are a large part of this effort, recognized as necessary steps beyond the civil rights legislation to actively address centuries of extreme inequality between the races and genders.
By divorcing the term “civil rights” from its context in this nation’s history, an organization called the American Civil Rights Institute, headed by Republican activist Ward Connerly, purports to fight for civil rights by working to eliminate affirmative action, one state at a time. Connerly has helped secure affirmative action bans in California, Washington and Michigan and now has his sights set on Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arizona for 2008.
The Arizona measure, locally sponsored by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and equivocally titled the “Arizona Civil Rights Initiative” (ACRI), is slated to appear on the November ballot. But a Michigan-based organization called the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights And Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary (BAMN) filed a lawsuit on June 30 that could derail the proposition. BAMN maintains that the signatures collected to qualify the measure for the ballot were obtained illegally and may not be valid. Similar legal battles have challenged Connerly’s efforts in other states; and in Missouri and Oklahoma, his measures were denied because of underhanded signature-gathering methods.
If approved, the ACRI will strip Arizona’s public institutions of the freedom to promote diversity and ensure equal-opportunity within their ranks and operations. The vague language of the measure to “prohibit preferential treatment or discrimination by the state government,” doesn’t begin to hint at what is really at stake. Not only will all public colleges and universities in Arizona be prohibited from actively recruiting and providing tailored assistance and scholarships to minority and women students, but the ACRI will also cripple state programs like the Minority and Women-Owned Business Certification Program and the Office of Indian Education. ASU’s Bridges to Biomedical Careers Program, NAU’s Multicultural Student Center, and Uof A’s Arizona Hispanic Center of Excellence are also at stake in this fight, not to mention the weighty prospect of taking another step backward in the struggle for a society truly suited for “colorblind” policy.