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The Right Coast
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History Repeats Itself (Will It Repeat Itself Again?) Gail Heriot

By Thomas A. Smith

Forty three years ago, on January 14, 1963, newly-elected Alabama Governor George Wallace delivered an inaugural address that was sprinkled with references to Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee.  In it, he declared:

“I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.”

(Ellipses in original.)

On Sunday, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick drew a eerily similar line in the dust.  At a major NAACP fundraiser that drew 10,000 people, he declared his opposition to the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative–the voter initiative, which, if passed, will ban the State of Michigan from engaging in discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, color, ethnicity national origin or gender in the operation of public education, public employment and public contracting.  The measure is in part a response to the University of Michigan’s over-the-top race-based admissions policies under which an African American applicant with a 3.0 average was more likely to be admitted than a white or Asian student with a 4.0 average. The Associated Press reports:

“There will be affirmative action here today,” Kilpatrick said. “There will be affirmative action here tomorrow and there will be affirmative action in our state forever.”

As far as I can tell, this was not said for ironic effect.  He really meant it.  He evidently has a tin ear for rhetoric.

George Wallace was long ago relegated to the dustbin of history.  A year after his inaugural address, Congress passed the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Whether Kwame Kilpatrick will suffer the same fate is unclear, but Michigan voters will have the opportunity to put him there in November when they vote on the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.  What is interesting is that MCRI is a case of history repeating itself too.  Its operative clause is based on the language of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Here’s hoping the people of Michigan make the right choice.