Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 21:43:08 -0700
From: Simona Sawhney <ssawhney-AT-ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>



Forgive me if this has already appeared on the list--it's hard to 
keep track of all the petitions circulating these days.  If you do 
sign this, please return to: bamn-AT-umich.edu
Thanks.


>
>================================================>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)
>
>bamn-AT-umich.edu
>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.
>
>
>NAME: ___________________________________
>CITY & STATE: ___________________________
>SCHOOL (if applicable): _________________
>PHONE NUMBER: ___________________________
>EMAIL ADDRESS: __________________________
>PHONE: __________________________________
>Would you like further info? [Y/N] ______
>
>Return completed petition to: bamn-AT-umich.edu
>
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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