Ending racial preferences

Michigan's 2006 ballot measure removed affirmative action preferences from public contracting, schooling, and hiring. Before the vote, supporters and opponents spent years campaigning, fighting in court, competing for news coverage, and arguing in public. This book tells that story from the perspective of Toward A Fair Michigan (TAFM), a nonprofit that set up a civic space for talking through the issue. Its authors describe TAFM's approach as one that prized teaching over pushing a message, careful reasoning over heated language, and respectful debate over street protest.

The account begins with earlier efforts to pass similar measures in California, Florida, Washington, and Houston. It then traces the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) in detail, from its launch in 2003 through the year after the measure passed in 2006.

The book also gives readers the material to form their own views on whether preferences serve the country. It reprints the remarks made at a TAFM debate and sets out 50 questions on preferences, with answers from 14 experts on each side. It will be most useful to readers studying public policy and state politics.