Inside Higher Ed
August 18, 2008
Defenders of affirmative action have learned — as ballot measures to bar its use by public colleges spread from state to state — how to win support from educators, business leaders and politicians. But they’ve yet to marshal a majority of state voters to reject one of the measures.
This fall — with measures to ban public colleges from the use of race, ethnicity and gender in admissions and hiring expected on the ballots in Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska — supporters of affirmative action have come up with a new approach to try in Colorado. They are attempting to place their own measure on the ballot: a proposal to affirm that it is illegal for public colleges and other state agencies to use quotas or formal point systems based only on race or ethnicity, but then goes on to say that affirmative action permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court should continue to be allowed.
The strategy — which has infuriated backers of Ward Connerly, whose group organized of the referendums in Colorado and elsewhere — is to try to take away one of his most potent weapons: discussion of quotas. Many polls show that public support for affirmative action is weakest if it is linked to quotas and strongest if linked to outreach programs. With this strategy, backers of affirmative action say they can be as anti-quota as Connerly, and change the discussion.
“There is a genuine concern about the use of quotas in higher education — whether it’s happening or not. It’s not supposed to be happening, but many people obviously think that it is, so we’ll agree that it shouldn’t be happening,” said Melissa Hart, an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the president of Coloradans for Equal Opportunity, the group pushing the anti-quota, pro-affirmative action referendum.
The group has submitted what it says are more than enough valid petitions to get on the fall ballot, and a ruling by the Secretary of State’s office on the petitions is expected early next month. If it reaches the ballot, voters could approve it or the anti-affirmative action measure, approve both or reject both. If both are approved, an unusual legal battle could emerge. For now, this tactic appears to be changing the nature of the debate somewhat in Colorado and if this tactic succeeds, it is likely to be used elsewhere.
Hart said that the strategy arose out of recognition that the anti-affirmative action forces have been winning — in part by associating affirmative action with quotas. She noted, for example, that when John McCain was asked if he would vote to ban affirmative action in Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate said he would because “I do not believe in quotas.” Supporters of affirmative action have long argued that they don’t believe in quotas either, but Hart said that message gets lost. ...
Corry predicted that once voters understand that the alternative measure would preserve affirmative action in many forms, they will reject it. “Overwhelmingly, Americans believe that’s wrong,” she said.
Outside of Colorado, the new strategy to defend affirmative action is being watched carefully. The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights has provided some financial backing for the effort. And Shirley Wilcher, executive director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, called the Colorado strategy “a fascinating approach.” She said that critics of all affirmative action make “a not-so-subtle misrepresentation of current law” to imply that quotas remain legal. “I think this will help voters understand,” she said. [To read the entire story, go to: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/18/affirm ]
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