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Local group protests MCRI ban on affirmative action
| trip pearly mental disorder | 06/23/05 |
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Date: June 23rd, 2005 12:45 PM Author: trip pearly mental disorder Charge: Anti-affirmative action group laundered racists’ money
By Diane Bukowski The Michigan Citizen
DETROIT – A group sponsoring an anti-affirmative action state ballot proposal laundered three-fourths of its campaign contributions through a right-wing California organization, according to a charge filed May 24 with Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land.
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) proposal calls for a ban on affirmative action in state hiring and procurement practices. It would be voted on in November, 2006 if petition signatures submitted earlier this year are approved by the state.
The charge, filed by The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) and Operation King’s Dream (OKD), says the MCRI violated state election law because it did not list individual contributors to the California group, the American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC), headed by affirmative action opponent Ward Connerly.
"The MCRI has attempted to conceal from the people of the State of Michigan the right-wing ideologues, open racists, and white supremacists who support the MCRI’s effort, as well as the corporations and others who have contributed to the MCRI’s petition drive in the hope of securing business from the State of Michigan," said attorneys George Washington and Shanta Driver in the charge.
In the past, ACRC’s major contributors have included beer magnate Joseph Coors, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Fox network, Jerry Hume, founder of the ultraconservative Citizens for America and a trustee of the Heritage Foundation, and prominent Bush family supporter Harlan R. Crow.
Jennifer Gratz, Executive Director of MCRI, responded, "The charge is completely frivolous. It’s sad that the state has to use taxpayers’ money to respond to unfounded claims that a thuggish group like BAMN has made."
Gratz contended that the ACRC did file a list of individual contributors to the effort.
MCRI campaign finance reports filed in January show that the group received $713,464 last year, with the MCRI/ACRC contributing $545,693 of the total.
A separate report filed by the ACRC lists a total of $549,679.28 collected in 2004. Of that, Ward Connerly and his company, Ward Connerly and Associates, contributed $389,000. The ACRC itself contributed $31,500. Several others contributors are listed, including Robert Browne of the Grand Rapids-based TIMCOR, who gave $50,000.
In May, the ACRC agreed to pay $95,000 to settle charges brought against it by the State of California for failing to disclose contributors who funded Proposition 54, the so-called Racial Privacy Act, in 2003. The initiative would have barred the state from collecting information about race and ethnicity but was defeated by 63 percent of the state’s voters.
As part of its settlement with the state, the ACRC disclosed that $1.3 million in funding for the initiative came from just six donors, including Coors, Murdoch, Hume and Crowe.
BAMN and OKD are requesting various sanctions against the MCRI for the alleged violations, as well as a criminal investigation. A representative of Land’s office said the charges are currently being reviewed.
BAMN and OKD also filed a challenge last month with the State Board of Canvassers against the MCRI petition. The challenge says that petition circulators lied to signers, claiming the petition supported affirmative action.
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