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Anti- affirmative action signatures collected
By LORRI SUGHROUE
City Editor
A controversial anti-affirmative action petition drive made its way to McCook this week, as paid petitioners knocked on doors and milled around public places collecting signatures.
The petition, conducted by the Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative in Lincoln, seeks to place a proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November that will prohibit all consideration of race, ethnicity and gender in hiring, scholarship or contracting decisions made by public agencies.
Petitioners have until July 5 to collect the 115,000 valid signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot.
The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative is the Nebraska branch of The American Civil Rights Initiative, backed by Californian businessman Ward Connerly, a long-time critic of affirmative action programs. The group has been successful in California, Washington and Michigan.
Opponents of the petition, Nebraskans United, say petition circulators are using deceptive tactics in collecting signatures, by asking citizens if they would like to sign a petition that ends discrimination.
Nebraskans United has launched radio and newspaper ads denouncing the petition.
According to the Web site nebraskansunited.org, the petition is being bankrolled by outside interest groups who want to change the Nebraska Constitution for the worse.
If successful, the ban on affirmative action would harm women and minorities programs, such as breast cancer screening and domestic violence and that University of Nebraska students would be denied gender and race-specific scholarships, opponents say.
The Nebraska Civil Rights Initiative refutes those claims.
At its Web site, www.NebraskaCRI.org, it says affirmative action for certain economic and geographic groups would still be permitted -- such as the University of Nebraska still being able to give scholarships based on income and recruit students from specific parts of the state.
Paid petitioner Tyrone Jones of Houston, stopped at a local restaurant Monday night in between collecting signatures and said he agreed with the petition.
"The best qualified person should be hired for the job," he said. "It should make no difference whether you're black or white, male or female. There's two sides to every story."
Jones said he's been in Nebraska for three months, visited all 93 counties and missed 12 tornadoes
"This Nebraska weather is crazy," he said and added that his group would be leaving the area today.