The Fight Over Discrimination and How to Address it in Missouri

Voters might decide fate of governmental Affirmative Action programs in 2010, Missouri Civil Rights Initiative effort underway.

(Grandview, MO) – According to the Executive Director of the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, the election of Barak Obama as President of the United States shows that “…we are not the racist country that some people try to lead everyone to believe…”

That statement comes from Tim Asher, who is leading a second effort to place the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) on the ballot before voters in 2010. The group’s 2008 effort fell short of the petition requirements. According to Asher, the effort fell short after Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan tied the issue up in court over the official ballot language.

The MoCRI proponents submitted the language finally approved by the court in 2008 for the 2010 effort. Secretary Carnahan’s office has rejected that language and replaced it with the same language struck down by the courts in 2008, resulting in another court battle that continues today.

The group started the effort earlier this time and says they are confident they will obtain the signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot.

The effort, if placed on the ballot and approved by voters, would change the state’s constitution to prohibit race and gender in employment, enrollment and contracting decisions for governmental entities, projects and colleges and universities. Asher says the change reflects “…the original intent of the [19]64 Civil Rights Act…”

Opponents of the measure accuse the effort of being discriminatory because it would outlaw programs designed to benefit women and minorities.

To learn more about the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, visit www.missouricri.org.

“Missouri Viewpoints” has been trying to present the other side of this debate for over a year. So far, all invitations for an interview that have been extended to opponents of the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative have been either declined or ignored. We hope to bring you the opposing viewpoint on this issue soon.

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