Defiantly wielding picket signs, nearly 100 affirmative action
supporters gathered on the Diag at noon Friday to protest a ballot
initiative proposing to end the use of race in admissions at public
universities.

Organized by BAMN, the rally was part of the seventh annual
National Conference of the New Civil Rights Movement — a
weekend of rallies, pickets, workshops and informational sessions
designed to garner support for affirmative action and defend the
policy against its opponents.

With the U.S. Supreme Court cases behind it, the organization is
now focusing on a ballot initiative spearheaded by Ward Connerly, a
University of California regent and outspoken opponent of using
race in public education, contracting and employment. BAMN is
waging a boycott against Coors, calling the brewing company one of
Connerly’s few known funding sources.

The picketers, consisting of Detroit middle and high school
students, college students from across the country and local BAMN
supporters, chanted vociferously.

Protesters proclaimed, “by any means necessary, we say
fight. Affirmative action is our right,” as they marched
around the Diag’s center.

During the rally, many spoke of a new civil rights movement. By
defending affirmative action, supporters say they are defending
Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that ended
segregation in public schools.

“Look at these students. Look at these people who have
come from all over the country. The spirit of (Martin Luther) King,
the spirit of Malcolm X is alive today on this Diag,” said
the Rev. Mark Lyons of Ann Arbor’s Second Baptist Church,
addressing demonstrators.

Affirmative action opponents were also present on the Diag.
Young Americans for Freedom, a national student group supporting
conservative ideals, held signs of protest as BAMN supporters
rallied. One YAF sign read, “Affirmative Action = Racial
Discrimination.”

“YAF is out here today to support Ward Connerly’s
Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. We believe that racial
preferences are wrong and are inherently racist. So we’re
supporting Mr. Connerly’s initiative to end all racial
preferences in public education, hiring and contracts,” YAF
Co-Chair Laura Davis said.

Davis disapproves of BAMN’s mobilization approach. To
expand its support base, the organization has reached out to public
school students, primarily in Detroit. Davis said she found this
unsettling. Students, she said, were given a biased opinion.
“They bring in all these students from Detroit public schools
to protest and I think it’s really unfortunate that they
don’t hear the other side of the story. They only hear about
affirmative action, and I think they get a twisted version of
it,” Davis said.

Ann Arbor Huron High School freshman Fatou Biouf said she
disapproved of Connerly’s initiative. BAMN, who persuaded her
school to allow students to miss class to rally Friday, has played
a role in building support for affirmative action in her school,
she said. Huron High School allowed students with a signed
permission slip to attend the rally today.

Similar organizations exist at other schools. At Robert A. Taft
Information Technology High School, juniors Melva Menesield and
Melvin Ham are part of the Future Leaders Against Racism
Everywhere, an independent group that supports BAMN. They serve to
“bring new people to get training to be a civil rights
leader,” Ham said.

FLARE president Ham disagreed with the YAF but recognized their
right to assemble.“They have the freedom to do that, so I
have no problem with it. They’re against it, I’m for
it, and that’s just how it is,” he said.

The focus on middle and high school students continued
throughout the weekend. On Saturday night, affirmative action
supporters gathered in the Natural Science Auditorium to discuss
educational inequalities. To demonstrate the need for affirmative
action, Detroit public school students produced a presentation
comparing urban school facilities to those of wealthier, suburban
towns, such as Gross Pointe North.

Pictures taken of moldy floors, broken chairs and unbound books
showed the relative lack of funding and support for Detroit public
schools, presenters said.

As photos segued from urban to suburban, BAMN supporters, many
of whom were high school students, strongly reacted to such
physical disparities.