Update (10:51): Jennifer Gratz, of Gratz v. Bollinger fame, stopped by LBC to give us this update:
“An update on the legal front … this evening (about 3 hours ago) the 6th Circuit lifted the preliminary injunction — which means Proposal 2 will be implemented immediately. The decision also debunks many of the claims made by BAMN, the ACLU, the NAACP, the Universities, etc. The decision can be read here.” (PDF)
Thirteen pages worth. Can’t wait to dig in… (Thanks, Jennifer!)
————————————————————-
What a cause!
Certain Negroes and their white liberal cohorts in Michigan are trying to overturn Proposal 2, which prohibits the state from treating its citizens differently based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. Fifty-eight percent of voters said “YES” to the measure on November 7, 2006.
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) has filed suit to stop the implementation of Proposal 2.
Back when the measure was known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), BAMN and other groups challenged the legality of the petition to get MCRI on the ballot. A Michigan circuit court ruled that the petition language was misleading and should not have been approved, but a Court of Appeals panel disagreed, unanimously affirming the legality of the petition language.
The case went to the Michigan Supreme Court, which declined to hear it. As a result, MCRI appeared on the ballot as Proposal 2, and the people of Michigan decided that government-backed discrimination had seen its final days.
(Isn’t it ironic that blacks, who once struggled for equal treatment before the law, now use their race to rally for special treatment before the law? And I use the word special in the sense of “mentally retarded,” not “good” or “unique.”)
Since Proposal 2 passed by 58 percent of the vote on November 7, BAMN and other blacks-can’t-compete-with-whites types are seeking new strategies to subvert the will of the people. Several state universities asked for and a federal court granted a six-month delay in implementing Proposal 2 in admissions.
The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) and other groups tried to intervene in BAMN’s lawsuit challenging Proposal 2, but a judge said NO GO. CIR, a real civil rights organization, works behind the scenes to challenge government-mandated race preferences. They’ve posted links to motions and news stories about Proposal 2 and other cases.
John Rosenberg of Discriminations has been following news in Michigan very closely and blogging about it (which very few bloggers do). He notes the bizarre irony (I use that word a lot because the world is filled with it; most don’t seem to notice it, so I feel compelled to point it out) of the fight to maintain lowered standards for blacks (emphasis added):
One of the many odd things about the challenge to Proposition 2 (MCRI) filed by the University of Michigan, Michigan State, and Wayne State is that, as state-supported institutions, they are legally arms of the state. Thus one arm of the state of Michigan is suing the governor, an agent of the state of Michigan, to prevent the enforcement of a constitutional amendment adopted by the superiors of both of them, the people of Michigan. (link)
If you are anti-race preferences and aren’t checking John’s blog every day, shame on you. See his BAMN-related and Proposal 2 posts.
Shelby Steele (pictured on the right), author of White Guilt, recently penned a column called “Racism — fact or fiction?”
Steele argues that racism, in whatever form it exists in 2006, is no longer an impediment to blacks. Certain social pathologies, generated by blacks themselves, are the culprits. Steele captures the story of my blogging life (emphases added):
Many believe that it is racist for whites to say white supremacy is dead, and that it is Uncle Tomism for blacks to say it. But it is dead nevertheless…[T]oday’s racism is no longer in concert with an overt and systematic subjugation of blacks. While racism continues to exist, it no longer stunts the lives of blacks.
Yet a belief in the ongoing power of racism is, today, an article of faith for “good” whites and “truth-telling” blacks. It is heresy for any white or black to say openly that, today, underdevelopment and broken families are vastly greater problems for blacks than racism, even though this is obviously true. The problem is that this truth blames the victim. It suggests that black progress will come more from black effort than from white goodwill — even though white oppression caused the underdevelopment in the first place.
In other words, this truth is unfair. And when whites or blacks utter it, they are instantly identified with the unfairness rather than with the truth. So it propriety causes us to say that racism still explains black difficulty.
I feel like shouting, Preach, Brother Steele! But I won’t. 
Go forth, and have a restful weekend. 
Related columns:
- Supreme Court hears race-based school assignment arguments – I address the illegal practice of race-based government school assignments.
- Race Preferences Defeated in Michigan – The people say NO to skin color preferences.
- White Student Sues for Racial Discrimination – So-called minority scholarships challenged.
