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Arizona: Confused And Concerned Over Civil Rights

Watching universities confront the possibility of having civil rights imposed on them is almost humorous. Almost. As case in point is the University of Arizona, as revealed in this article in the Daily Wildcat.

?We?re trying to educate our campus,? said Ezekiel Gebrekidane, a chemistry senior and member of the African American Student Advisory Board. ?We?re going to be the victims at the end of the day.?
....
If the initiative is added to the statewide ballot and gets passed, organizations like the UA?s Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center would have to open the door to everybody on campus or lose funding, Gebrekidane said.

According to Gebrekidane, requiring student organizations to refrain from excluding students because of their race means that ?we?re going to be the victims at the end of the day.?

Victims of what? Equality?

?It?s not about black or white,? Gebrekidane continued. ?It?s about protecting diversity groups.?

Oh. O.K. And what, exactly, is a ?diversity group?? Arizona students seem to be a bit unclear on that point. For example, Ruthie Fesahazion, a senior public health major, said

she thinks everybody needs to be aware that the bill could affect a larger population than just racial groups.

?My biggest fear is the wording of the [Arizona Civil Rights Initiative] is so jumbled, people will vote for it,? she said. ?These are your fellow classmates. It can be somebody who looks like you that fits into one of these underrepresented communities.?

The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative, like similar measure being proposed in five other states (not the ?10 states? mentioned in the article) would bar the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group based on sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin. Ms. Fesahazion did not say (or at least was not quoted) what she found ?jumbled? or confusing about the initiative.

Full post as published by Discriminations on March 05, 2008 (boomark / email).