Minority Recruitment and Retention The Graduate School Bonham House 203A Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056 513.529.2362 513.529.4127 Fax "Power is the ability to achieve purpose" ~Martin L. King, Jr. ----Original Message Follows---- From: Temiquel Guadalupe <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Victory in Affirmative Action Cases is Imperative Date: 6 Sep 2001 10:41:21 -0700 ------- Start of forwarded message ------- Subject: Fwd: Victory in Affirmative Action Cases is Imperative To: Temiquel Guadalupe <[log in to unmask]> From: "RICKEY L. HALL" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 09:04:08 -0500 >Importance: Normal > >================================================= >VICTORY IN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASES IS IMPERATIVE >================================================= > >On Tuesday, October 23, in Cincinnati, Ohio, arguments will be >heard in the federal Sixth Circuit Court appeal of the two >University of Michigan affirmative action cases. These cases are >our generation's Brown v. Board of Education. At stake is all we >have achieved in the way of integration in higher education since >the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. > >You must have YOUR VOICE heard in Cincinnati on October 23. Every >college, university, high school, community college, every city >and every town must have its voice heard by the judges who will >decide this historic case. They must know that the people of this >country will not go back to segregation in higher education. A >national mass petition campaign is under way to bring your voice >to the federal judges who will decide whether or not to ban >affirmative action. > >We need every supporter of integration, equality and affirmative >action to circulate this petition. We need thousands of petitions >from every state to make clear to the court that people are >standing up across the country. The Petition in Support of the >University of Michigan Affirmative Action Cases has already >collected thousands of signatures. Detroit high school students >collected over a thousand signatures in a few hours at the Labor >Day Parade. We need it to be circulated in hardcopy and over >email. We want to collect many tens of thousands more signatures >by October 23. This is our central method of registering broad >social support for integration in higher education and for the >maintenance of affirmative action programs. Everyone's voice must >be heard in that courtroom on October 23. > >There will be a mass rally at the federal court building on the >day of the hearing. Having many thousands of people present >standing up for integration, justice and equality is essential. >Already students from dozens of campuses across the country from >Boston to Berkeley to Atlanta are preparing to be present. The >Reverend Jesse Jackson will speak at the rally at the federal >courthouse in Cincinnati. National organizations including labor >unions and civil rights groups are mobilizing their membership >for this historic fight. > >It is imperative that we win these cases at the Appeals Court >level. A defeat on October 23 will mean ALL colleges and >universities throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan >are IMMEDIATELY BANNED from using affirmative action. Affirmative >action plans are the only effective desegregation programs for >higher education. Integration and equality in education is a >precondition for democracy and justice. These two University of >Michigan cases are very likely to go to the US Supreme Court and >determine the legality of affirmative action in higher education >across the country. > >We CAN WIN this critical fight. > >A VERY FLUID SITUATION: LESSON OF THE CALIFORNIA VICTORY > >The new civil rights movement that has emerged in response to the >attack on affirmative action has changed the national political >climate on this question. > >On May 16, 2001 the new civil rights and student movement in >California forced the University of California regents >unanimously to reverse the ban on affirmative action in the UC >system, thereby defeating the attack that initiated the national >assault on affirmative action of the last six years. The 7,000 >college and high school youth that mobilized at UC Berkeley on >March 8 of this year played a decisive role in compelling the UC >regents' to reverse the ban. > >The recent surprise decision by the Bush administration to >intervene in favor of affirmative action in, Adarand, the federal >contracting case about to come before the US Supreme Court, is a >remarkable testament to the change in climate brought about by >the new civil rights struggles. > >HOW DO WE WIN? > >We must now make the federal courts accountable to the people. We >must make clear to them that resegregating higher education will >not be accepted-that the condition whereby black, Latina/o and >Native American people are marginalized and relegated to inferior >education will no longer be tolerated. We can convince them to >rule for justice and integration by using the same persistent >methods of mass organizing and mass struggle that secured the >historic victory in California. The mass petition campaign must >be stepped-up. We must mobilize thousands for October 23. > >The tide is turning in our favor, but the question is very far >from settled. > >We need YOU to ACT. We need you to circulate the Petition in >Support of the University of Michigan Affirmative Action Cases. >(Available as a printable file at www.bamn.com/cincinnati.doc) We >need you to mobilize people from your school and community for >the rally in Cincinnati on October 23. > >Please get in touch with us. Please forward this email. > >Now is the time to stand up and be counted. > >-Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration > and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) > > [log in to unmask] > www.bamn.com > > >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >PETITION TO SUPPORT THE >UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN >AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CASES > >The outcome of the two Supreme Court-bound University of Michigan >affirmative action cases will determine whether our society moves >forward towards greater equality or backwards to resegregation >and greater inequality. Affirmative action plans are >desegregation programs for higher education. They are the only >successful method for integrating all of this nation's >universities. > >WE THE UNDERSIGNED: > >* Support the right of the University of Michigan and every >university to maintain and utilize affirmative action programs; > >* Stand on the two fundamental premises of Brown vs. Board of >Education, first that separate can never be equal and second, >that integration is necessary for democracy, justice and >progress; > >*Pledge to open the doors of higher education to all. > >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > ------- End of forwarded message ------- Find the best deals on the web at AltaVista Shopping! http://www.shopping.altavista.com