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Maybe There Was Fraud In Colorado...

Not long ago I discussed (here) the predictable charges of ?fraud? emerging in Colorado by people stepping forward to claim that they were duped into signing a petition for the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative. The assumed, they claimed, that the initiative was in favor of civil rights and opposed discrimination only to discover to their horror that it in fact ... supported civil rights and opposed discrimination. (They hadn?t realized, they claimed, that it would bar all affirmative action based on race or gender preferences.)

In my earlier post I discussed in particular the claims of one Dara Burwell, whose claims were also treated with more respect than they deserved in a New York Times article that was nevertheless more fair than most.

Now comes an enterprising blogger/reporter in Colorado who has done the research that the New York Times should have done. Face The State (?Colorado?s Front Page?) has found that there might well have been some fraud in Colorado ... by Ms. Burwell, who, it turns out, ?is a longtime liberal activist with ties to multiple organizations promoting? race preferences, etc. It is also far from clear, FTS points out, that Ms. Burwell even signed the petition.

On April Fool?s Day she spoke at a widely covered press conference alleging that she was ?misled? into signing the petition under false pretenses.

But as FTS has learned, Burwell is not one of the three individuals who filed formal complaints with [Secretary of State Mike] Coffman's office....

Burwell is alleging fraud based on the fact that the young black man who approached her for support of the initiative said it would help minorities. She maintains that he was being deceitful because he didn?t indicate that the initiative would explicitly ban race and gender preferences in state government.

?Given what he said, the language of the petition and also our shared experience as black people in this country, I believed myself to be signing a pro-affirmative action measure,? she told the Rocky Mountain News. ?I signed the petition, handed it back to him and in turn he gave me a flier to a hip-hop event ? which I felt was further confirmation of that recognition of shared experience.?

A little digging (or more likely, a lot) revealed, however, that it is highly unlikely Ms. Burwell was as ignorant and dupable (if ?dupable? isn?t a word, it should be) about CoCRI as she now claims.

As FTS has learned, however, Burwell is very knowledgeable about diversity issues in Colorado, having been a leader in the state?s pro-Affirmative Action movement. A 2004 ?Focus on Diversity? newsletter, published by the University of Colorado?s Office of Diversity and Equity, recognized Burwell as ?an advocate of underrepresented communities, and for her work with the WRC [Women?s Resource Center] and the University of Colorado Student Union.? In 2003, she was named a CU ?Equity & Excellence Award? recipient.

In 2006, Burwell served as a spokeswoman for 9to5, the ?National Association of Working Women,? advocating a raise to Colorado?s minimum wage. She is now employed by Sixth Sun Consulting, a Denver firm that specializes in diversity training, according to its web site. The firm has a motto of ?Internal Revolution. Organization Evolution.? Specific services advertised include ?anti-oppression consulting and training,? ?Reiki Energy Work,? ?Transformative Coaching,? and ?Enneagram Instruction.?

When asked by FTS how someone so knowledgeable about race and gender-related issues could be tricked into signing the initiative, Burwell said she ?didn?t associate that [ballot] language with terminating any equal opportunity programs.? [Links omitted]

And, of course, neither the language nor the intent nor the effect of the initiative terminates any equal opportunity programs. I would be willing to bet that Ms. Burwell never actually signed the petition, or, if she did, it was as part of a premeditated plan to present herself as an ignorant, hoodwinked dupe, just as she has done.

Thus her own behavior may well be the fraud that she?s complaining about.

Full post as published by Discriminations on April 14, 2008 (boomark / email).