Group's rally slams passage of affirmative action ban

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Eleven-year-olds faced off with University of Michigan students over the merits of affirmative action as hundreds gathered to protest the passage of Proposal 2 Monday.\nMilitant pro-affirmative action group By Any Means Necessary sponsored a march and rally that brought hundreds of supporters to campus on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Promotional material distributed by BAMN before the event said the marchers would demand "no drop in minority enrollment in higher education in Michigan."\nConfrontations between marchers and members of the University's chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, a politically conservative group, erupted when several YAF members walked in front of the march.\nMarchers chanted a line often heard at BAMN-sponsored protests: \n"They say, 'Jim Crow,' We say 'Hell no!'" \nMost of the marchers were middle school, high school and college students from across the state, though people of all ages took part in the march. Organizers said the group bused almost 300 students from Detroit area schools, including members of the Cass Technical High School marching band.\nAt least 40 members of the band played music, twirled flags and danced at the front of the pack. \nMaricruz Lopez, co-chair of the university's BAMN chapter, said the group brought the students to Ann Arbor, Mich. so they could fight for a cause that matters to them. \n"This is a fight for their lives," she said. \nShanta Driver, the national co-chair of BAMN, said the main goal of the rally was to let both the university administration and the state of Michigan know that the group will continue to oppose Proposal 2, even after the university announced that it will not file any new legal challenges to Proposal 2 for now. Proposal 2 is a ballot initiative passed earlier this year that created an amendment to Michigan's constitution banning affirmative action policies in the state.\nCurrently BAMN has filed two separate lawsuits seeking to weaken and reverse the effects of Proposal 2. \nThe first asks the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay that would delay the implementation of Proposal 2 until the end of this year. \nThe second suit challenges the validity of Proposal 2. It alleges that proponents of the law used "racially targeted voter fraud" and "lies and deception" during the campaign to get the proposal onto Michigan's ballot. The suit is before a federal court.\nGeorge Washington, the lawyer representing BAMN, said he is confident both cases will fare well in court. \nLuke Massie, BAMN's other national co-chair, said Proposal 2's passage was a step backward for civil rights. \n"We're strong, we're proud, we're loud and we're not going back," he said. \nFour members from YAF walked in front of the march waving posters with things like "Scoreboard: MCRI: 58, BAMN: 0" -- a reference to the 58 percent of the vote garnered by Proposal 2 -- written on them.\nOne sign bore a line from King's famous "I have a dream" speech: "They will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." \nThe students also shouted chants into megaphones like, "Hey BAMN, what do you say? Prop 2 passed anyway," and told the marchers to "stop whining."\nAndrew Boyd, chair of the university's chapter of YAF, said the group's main opposition to BAMN's agenda was that Michigan voters had already passed Proposal 2.\nBoyd said BAMN did not uphold the values of Martin Luther King, Jr.\n"Martin Luther King, Jr. was peaceful and tolerant -- BAMN is militant and intolerant," Boyd said. \nBut Driver said King would be marching right alongside her group.\n"If he were alive today, he would be here with us today. I am certain," she said.