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Anti-affirmative action proposal advances

Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 6, 2007 at midnight

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A proposed 2008 ballot measure aimed at dismantling affirmative action in state government cleared another hurdle today after state officials decided it met the single-subject requirement and approved its language.

The proposal begins: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin..."

An attorney representing opponents of the measure argued that lumping "discrimination" and "preferential treatment" together was wrong. He said they could actually be construed as two opposing ideas, which would go against the rule that ballot measures present just one issue.

Denver attorney Edward Ramey said voters conceivably could be against discrimination but for preferential treatment if it serves as a remedy for past discrimination.

"I wouldn’t want to be forced to vote to prohibit discrimination at the same time weakening remedies for what I’m voting to prohibit," Ramey said.

He also objected to the use of the phrase "preferential treatment" in the measure.

"Preferential treatment carries baggage. It carries a bad connotation in our society, and I’m concerned it will influence a vote in favor of this measure," Ramey said.

Led by Ward Connerly, chairman of the Sacramento-based American Civil Rights Institute, sponsors of the self-described "civil rights initiative" launched their campaign last April in hopes that Colorado would join other states that have passed it, including California, Washington and Michigan.

Connerly, who has spearheaded the national campaign to eliminate affirmative action, said the state shouldn’t promote discrimination and that this ballot measure "goes to the heart of who we are as a country."

He spoke about moving toward a colorblind society, and that the existence of affirmative action laws promotes race bias instead of eliminating them.

Opponents have until June 13 to file motions for a rehearing on the measure.