The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), a petition drive for a ballot initiative that would change the state constitution to prohibit affirmative action, is drawing criticism from a variety of sources. The proposed change to the state constitution borrows and adapts language from the 1964 Civil Rights Act and makes it illegal to "discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting"--language that will effectively outlaw affirmative action programs in Michigan without ever mentioning the words "affirmative action." Critics claim that basing the language on past civil rights legislation is an affront to that movement's legacy and that by using "civil rights" in the title, many voters have signed the petition without being fully aware of its goal. Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell has called the petition an "anti-civil rights initiative."

The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration and Fight Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) a national group with chapters in Michigan, the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, and United for Equality and Affirmative Action have filed a lawsuit to stop the petition arguing that it is "a conscious act of deception" and that "they present themselves as civil rights petitions when they are in reality an anti-civil rights amendment to the Michigan Constitution."

The petition is being bankrolled by Ward Connerly who has pledged to bring similar initiatives to a variety of states after successfully helping to pass California's Proposition 209 which banned affirmative action programs in hiring, contracting, and public school admissions and a similar Initiative 200 in Washington state. Connerly earns approximately $400,000 per year as chairperson for the American Civil Rights Institute and the American Civil Rights Coalition (more on his funding), two conservative groups opposing affirmative action efforts around the country. Joining Connerly on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is Jennifer Grantz as Executive Director, who was a plaintiff in a US Supreme Court case challenging affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan.