Monday, June 12, 2006
Dear Supporter,
In the last couple of days it has come to my attention that many of our supporters have received a letter from Shanta Driver. The letter claims that that MCRI has deceived voters into supporting the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.
Those claims simply are not true. The Michigan Court of Appeals, the Michigan Attorney General, the Michigan Supreme Court, the Secretary of State, and the State Director of Elections have all reviewed these allegations and all of these official state agencies have found them without merit.
The reason why MCRI collected a record number of signatures (508,202) is because voters believe that state sponsored discrimination is wrong.
But, before I tell you about how our supporters have responded to the letter let me tell you a little bit about who wrote this letter. Shanta Driver is one of the lead organizers of BAMN (www.bamn.com ), a Trotskyite Revolutionary Worker’s Party based out of Detroit. Just as their name implies, By Any Means Necessary, this radical group believes that violence, veiled threats, and intimidation are legitimate methods to electoral victory. This group is even reportedly on the FBI’s Terrorist Watch List.
Our opponents are desperately trying to scare and frighten supporters away from supporting MCRI. This “Operation Kings Dream” is merely a front group for BAMN. What they don’t understand is how knowledgeable and principled our supporters truly are.
Our opponents believe that MCRI supporters don’t understand the importance of ending racial preferences. They couldn’t be more wrong. You and our other supporters understand that discriminating against people based on race is wrong and a relic of a bygone era.
In fact, within hours of our supporters receiving these letters, I received dozens of phone calls with the same message of “keep up the good work and I’m sending in another check”. Our supporters are not intimidated by the thinly veiled threats of BAMN.
Again, I want to thank you for your support of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. We are looking forward to victory in November. If you should have any other questions please feel free to give me a phone call in the office, 517-699-2582.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Gratz
Executive Director
