M.C.R.I. RADIO AD LIKENS OPPONENTS TO SEGREGATIONISTS
The campaign in support of Proposal 06-2, which would ban the use of
affirmative action on the basis of race and gender in universities and
government, unveiled its first radio ad of the campaign saying the
proposal would end "government quotas" and accuses its opponents of
being "like the die-hard segregationists" in using fear against the
proposal.
A spokesperson for one of the organizations opposing the proposal
called the ad "hate-filled" and said voters in Michigan would not be
fooled by the ad.
Doug Tietz, campaign manager for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative,
said the ad would be on the air for "quite a while." He declined to
discuss when the campaign would launch television ads or other radio
ads.
One of the groups opposing the proposal, One United Michigan, has had
ads running on cable television since early summer talking about the
importance of affirmative action to women. It has not run ads
specifically opposing the proposal yet.
The 60-second ad was launched Wednesday on stations across the state,
Mr. Tietz said. It was released one day after a second opponent to the
ballot proposal, By Any Means Necessary, asked the U.S. Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals to issue an injunction to block the proposal from being
on the ballot while it appealed a decision by Detroit U.S. District
Judge Arthur Tarnow (see related story).
In the ad, a male voice says, "Too many working families in Michigan
don't have an equal chance to compete for jobs or college admissions.
That's wrong."
The ad's voice goes on to say that the MCRI, Proposal 06-02, would "end
government-sponsored discrimination" by enacting the "color-blind
language of the 1964 Civil Rights Act."
And the ad says that "sadly" like "die-hard segregationists" of the
1960s, opponents to the proposal are trying to stir opposition by using
fear.
"They're race baiting?" said David Waymire, a spokesperson for One
United Michigan. "This is shocking," he said, although he also he was
not surprised to see the organization "stoop so low. These are
California-based politics used to inflame rather than enlighten."
The ad is also misleading, Mr. Waymire charged, because quotas are
already outlawed. "We know from sad experience what ignoring racism
and discrimination against women does and we don't think Michigan voters
will be fooled by these hate-filled ads."
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