Ward Connerly, the primary financial supporter of the anti-affirmative action Proposal 2 (the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative), can be seen in a video interview saying “god bless them” regarding the Ku Klux Klan’s position in support of Proposal 2 according to research conducted by Media Mouse. The clip, shown below, features Michigan Civil Rights Commission member Michael Bernstein stating that the Ku Klux Klan is one of the only organized entities to support the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), to which Connerly responds “If the Ku Klux Klan thinks that equality is right, god bless them.”
The comment appears in a DVD documentary titled “Arise: The Battle over Affirmative Action” that looks at the nationwide movement to eliminate affirmative action. The video was produced by Firelight Media with the clip above highlighting both the ongoing support of white supremacist and racist organizations for Proposal 2 as well as the Michigan Civil Rights Commission’s failure to adequately address why racist organizations are endorsing Proposal 2. Beginning with the signature gathering process in 2004, racist organizations have supported Proposal 2, with the Mystic Knights of the Ku Klux Klan organizing its members to circulate petitions to place the anti-affirmative action proposal on the ballot. This participation by the Ku Klux Klan has continued, with the United Northern and Southern Knights of the Ku Klux Klan supporting the proposal by distributing literature both earlier this year and last month urging people to vote in favor of Proposal 2. The most vocal support of Proposal 2 by racist groups has come from the Michigan chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a group that has organized a public rally, hosted meetings to discuss organizing strategies, coordinated a letter writing campaign to newspapers, and made a lengthy document supporting the MCRI available on their website. Moreover, Caledonia resident and leader of the Michigan Council of Conservative Citizens, John Raterink, has been photographed shaking the hand of Ward Connerly.
Despite the fact that white supremacist organizations continue to organize in support of Proposal 2, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative spokespeople have failed to adequately address this support and what exactly it means if white supremacists are some of the only organized groups supporting Proposal 2. In addition to the “god bless them” comment regarding the Ku Klux Klan from Ward Connerly, the MCRI has tended to downplay the support of these organizations by arguing that they did seek it out. However, the dismissive attitude displayed by Connerly and Jennfier Gratz, the executive director of the MCRI, has amounted to tacit support advocacy by the Klan and other racists, with Gratz being asked in the Grand Rapids Press on October 24 about the support of the Council of Conservative Citizens, to which she responded that “even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
It should be seen as no surprise that groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Council of Conservative Citizens are supporting Proposal 2, as it is an initiative clearly designed to eliminate the gains of the civil rights movement. While affirmative action has been a positive step in addressing the history of institutional and systematic oppression of people of color and women by providing opportunity and access to educational institutions and employment, the elimination of affirmative action would mean a return to Jim Crow era de facto segregation and racism. The threat posed by eliminating affirmative action is very real in any state, but especially in Michigan, as the state is one of the most segregated states in the country.
