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January 08, 2008, 11:33 AM ET
Missouri Affirmative-Action Debate
In the wake of the resounding victory of the Civil Rights Initiative in Michigan (see this article), anti-affirmative action groups went to other states to enact similar campaigns. One of them is in Missouri, the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, and from the start the project has been rancorous.
The Initiative wanted a proposition on the ballot that would read “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.” But here is how the state government reworded the proposal: ““Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: ban affirmative-action programs designed to eliminate discrimination against; and improve opportunities for woman and minorities in public contracting, employment, and education . . .?”
The state’s action is just the kind of manipulation that gives affirmative action a bad name in open public debate. Note how the original proposal’s aim against discrimination (“The state shall not discriminate . . .”) turns into a program out to kill state programs designed to “eliminate discrimination.”
A judge this week saw through the prejudicial language and sided with proponents of the measure. Expect the same outcome as in Michigan two years ago. When people have to resort to this kind of tampering, their case is desperate.
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