Catholics take grassroots action to defeat Proposal 2
Joe Kohn of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 27, 2006
Detroit If you've never seen affirmative action work, don't try to take it away. It works. It helps people. It's turned lives around.
This is the appeal to voters that has come from Catholic Church leaders and other prominent figures across the state since early this year, when Proposal 2 an effort to end affirmative action in state-funded institutions was slated to be on the Michigan ballot this November.
Now, people are hearing it from a different source: Detroiters who see affirmative action programs as vital to their lives and their families.
"It's very important that our Catholic brothers and sisters be made aware of what's going on," said Michael Lofton, a volunteer for the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, an organization made mostly of laypeople from inner-city parishes. "If Proposal 2 passes, there are going to be a lot of people affected by it."
In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 7 election, the alliance has been collecting signatures and trying to spread a message from the city to the suburbs and upstate Proposal 2 may not affect you, but it hurts us. Their effort is symbolic in that the petition isn't destined for any legal action. Instead, it's meant to communicate through a grassroots effort the amount of harm Proposal 2 would do to women and minorities who still lack opportunity in society.
According to the ballot language, Proposal 2 is meant to "ban affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups of individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes."
For years, affirmative action programs have been used to ensure that well-qualified women and minorities will be given opportunities in employment and school admissions, and not passed up because of gender, race or ethnicity.
The Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance and the people in the pews who have supported it say it's not about being given "preferential treatment" it's about being given the opportunities that they otherwise wouldn't have had because of their circumstances.
Edward Bell, an attorney working in Southfield, is one example.
Bell grew up in what's known as the Brewster-Douglas projects just outside of downtown Detroit. In a Detroit public school system where few children excelled, Bell said, affirmative action programs singled out young men and women with potential to help them with their reading and writing skills.
Through his own hard academic work, and financial assistance given to him because of his being a black man from the inner city, Bell was able to attend Wayne State University. He later earned his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy.
"There is no even playing field without these extra opportunistic chances for people," Bell, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Parish, said of the affirmative action programs. "If it weren't for those extra opportunities me, personally, I know I would have gone in an opposite direction."
Another Sacred Heart parishioner whose life was changed is Janet Moss.
Moss's mother, a black woman working for General Motors Corp., was given an opportunity to apply for a supervisor's position thanks to an affirmative action program. Given the opportunity, she was promoted.
Later, Moss herself worked for the state unemployment office and was given a similar opportunity to apply for a promotion in Saginaw. The chance, as a black woman, to walk through the door and apply was all she needed. She spent a 31-year career with the state offices.
"It gives you that opportunity to walk through that door, and that's what it's all about to have that opportunity," said Moss, who now is retired and volunteers regularly at Sacred Heart Parish.
She personally has collected hundreds of signatures for the pastoral alliance's symbolic petition to defeat Proposal 2. As she witnessed in her career, many companies were started by white males and employed white males. By keeping tabs of the gender and race of those who are given job interviews or opportunities for promotions, it helps give everyone else a shot, she said.
"It's very important that we have affirmative action, so we can level the playing field," Moss said.
While you may run into people with stories like Bell's and Moss's each day in Detroit, it may be a rare experience in a predominantly-white suburb, or upstate, where there's generally a lower concentration of minorities compared to the city.
That's why the pastoral alliance is looking for avenues to reach people outside of the inner city avenues like diocesan newspapers or bulletins.
Already, Catholic bishops from every Michigan diocese have joined One United Michigan a widespread coalition to defeat Proposal 2 made up of both gubernatorial candidates, union leaders, corporate executives, other faith groups and nonprofit organizations. Cardinal Adam Maida is on the One United Michigan board of directors.
The Church supports judiciously-applied affirmative action to help overcome past attitudes of racism and sexism. Cardinal Maida and other Church leaders have said affirmative action is a way society can help overcome past and present discrimination while looking ahead hopefully to a day when such programs are no longer needed for women and minorities.
What the pastoral alliance aims to do with their petition effort is simply convey the same message in a down-to-earth way from people the proposal really impacts.
"We thought it was important for people to hear from ordinary people, not necessarily from big corporations, presidents of organizations and bishops" said Fr. Norm Thomas, pastor of Sacred Heart and a member of the pastoral alliance. "This is just ordinary parishioners speaking to other ordinary parishioners, telling them that Proposal 2 should be a 'no' vote."
Added Moss, "We felt that if we showed them real signatures of people saying they'd vote 'no' on Proposal 2, this will help show other Catholics."
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