It’s easy to get jaded about issues we hear of again and again, and figure we can’t do much about. I was taken aback, though, by today’s NRO article by Allison Kasic on the latest Title IX outrage against men’s sports.
Note: the following paragraphs are meant only for Corner readers registered to vote in Michigan. Corner readers in other states should skip the following paragraphs.
I hope you Corner readers from Michigan will read Allison Kasic’s piece on Title IX today, and then get out and vote for the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which will end so-called affirmative action in Michigan’s public schools. Rumor has it that this year, some conservatives are actually going to be idiotic enough to stay home and throw the election to the Democrats. I know you clever Michigan conservatives would never do something silly like that, especially with Kim Jong Il and Mohmoud Ahmadinejad breathing down our necks. But just in case you’re flirting with a cockamamie idea like staying home on election day, please remember that The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative gives you a precious opportunity to strike a decisive blow against quotas, totally reversing the momentum on this critical issue, not just for Michigan, but for the entire country.
Yeah, I know that even though it’s basically an unjust gender quota, Title IX discrimination against men in sports will not immediately be reversed by the Michigan Civil Rights initiative. (For something more specific on the sort of injustice the MRCI will immediately stop, see “Discrimination Continues.”)
But my point is that ending so-called “affirmative action” in the very state where the Supreme Court seemed to enshrine it will have political, legal, and cultural ripple effects against the broader philosophy and practice of quotas everywhere. So please, all you wise voters of Michigan, don’t be like those bozos in the rest of the country planning to stay home on election day. If standing up to nuclear armed foes isn’t enough reason to get you to the polls, maybe ending race and gender preferences will be.