White group sees victory in Affirmative Action lawsuit

Smelling a victory in the air, the Center for Individual Rights' (CIR) Chief Executive Officer attorney Terence J. Pell Monday said his lawsuit seeking to dismantle the University of Michigan's affirmative action program is a good thing for minorities.

Reached in Washington, D.C. on the eve of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court today, Pell, who has a Ph.D. from Notre Dame and a law degree from Cornell Law School, predicted he will win this suit because the school's program is biased.

"We believe that running a separate two-track admission system is unconstitutional and wrong. We have a very strong case, and we're hopeful that the court will unambiguously strike down the use of segregated two-track admission systems designed to engineer a certain racial outcome," he told the Chicago Defender.

When told that many civil rights leaders and corporate executives endorse the affirmative action program because it helps produce a more diverse workforce, Pell said: "Not a single brief endorses the admission system at issue in this case. Everyone on those briefs writes about the value of diversity.

"We also agree that diversity is important and has great value, but, that diversity is not the issue in this case.

"This case is about the use of a two-track admission system designed to achieve what might be called a false diversity," he argued.

"The issue is not about the value of diversity. It's with this particular means of achieving diversity--the means that we feel is unconstitutional and actually hurts many individuals."

Explaining, Pell said: "It hurts our clients who did not have the opportunity to have their accomplishments and record judged on the same standard as everybody else, regardless of race.

"It also hurts the minority students who are accepted under a separate, much lower academic standard.

"The record in our case shows that African American students drop out of the University of Michigan at more than twice the rate than everybody else," he said.

However, Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-7th) was surprised by Pell's statements. "I think the gentleman had to have been drinking whiskey or something.

"I think the Constitution is a great document, but, when it was written, Blacks were counted as three-fifths of a person and Negroes didn't have the right to vote.

"The Constitution had flaws in it. Women couldn't vote. We've been changing the Constitution, and we need to put a clause in there that says those enslaved, oppressed, discriminated against, beat down, worked for nothing, helped build a country that has not afforded them equal opportunities should not only have affirmative action, but, should be getting Reparations."

But, Pell refused to budge on his beliefs.

"This. system does help Michigan boost the number of minority students who come to Ann Arbor, but, it clearly fails in keeping those students enrolled and it fails in helping them to graduate from Ann Arbor."

"You have to really ask yourself who the real victims are here. It is certainly not the University of Michigan, which boosts its minority enrollment.

"Rather, it's the minority students who frequently are told they're admitted under the same standards as everybody else; yet, when they show up in Ann Arbor, they find out that is clearly not the case," Pell said.

When told many Black and white leaders say the affirmative action program is good for whites, too, Pell disagreed.

"This case is not about affirmative action. This case is about the use of a segregated two-track admission system.

"We're in favor of affirmative action, but, we will fight very hard to prevent the use of a dual admission system like the one Michigan is operating.

"We're quite hopeful that the Supreme Court will strike down both of the admissions systems at issue in this case," Pell said.

When told that the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. said if the High Court dismantles the affirmative action program, it will be "open season" on similar programs across America fueled by "right-wing" zealots, Pell denied that is his intent.

Pell said "almost an overwhelming percentage of every demographic group agrees with us that race should not even be a factor in college admissions."

He cited a 2002 poll published in the Washington Post that concluded 96 percent of whites and 83 percent of African Americans "were opposed to race being taken into account in admissions.

"This case is not about affirmative action, and it's not about reversing racial progress. It is about the use of a clearly illegal two-track admission system," he stated.

"I think most people understand that getting rid of this admission system says nothing about affirmative action more broadly or racial progress in general.

"These are two separate things."

Asked to confirm that he has only one African American on his staff, Izora D. Whitestone, his administrative director who came aboard in 1999, Pell said: "That's accurate" and explained that his support is "from across the board, from people with all political outlooks and from all racial groups."

Asked how is he funded, Pell said most of his funds come from donations from individuals.

"We don't get any government money and 25 percent of our money is from large foundations."

Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.