1,700 rally at church in Detroit
Gathering at Fellowship Chapel comes out against Proposal 2

BY ZLATI MEYER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

October 23, 2006

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The Rev. Jesse Jackson praised affirmative action.

A Detroit rally on Sunday focused on the rights of undocumented workers, universal health coverage and affirmative action.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime civil rights advocate, was the featured speaker at the meeting organized by MOSES, Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength, at Fellowship Chapel on the city's west side.

To encourage the 1,700 people who attended to vote no on Proposal 2, which would ban affirmative action programs, Jackson pointed to a local example of how diversity can lead to success: Men of all skin colors play for the Detroit Tigers, he said, and no local baseball fan would think to root for a white St. Louis Cardinals player simply because of his skin color.

"Affirmative action is a majority issue, not a minority issue," he preached. "It's not a race issue; it's a plan for growth. ... Whatever the playing field, it's the same distance between the bases for all."

Several times during his speech, Jackson had the audience repeat after him: Affirmative action. Expands. Education. Affirmative action. Expands. Productivity.

In addition to the defeat of Proposal 2, MOSES is calling for equal protections for immigrants who are injured on the job, federal funds for job-training programs and for the creation of affordable and all-inclusive health care.

Those who can't find jobs tend to leave Michigan, a problem that a workforce development plan could solve, said Linda Williams, a MOSES executive board member.

"I don't want to see all the highways and bridges become ways for our young people to leave," Williams told the crowd.

Though he came to the United States from Mexico 18 years ago, Guadalupe Samcen of Detroit is concerned about issues that impact undocumented workers.

"It's important to live," said the 42-year-old office cleaner.

As the Rev. Thomas Sepulveda of Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church and Dia Pearce of the union Unite Here of Michigan outlined the abuse some immigrant workers face, several of them stood in front of the stage and held signs that read "$7 billion" (the amount of money these workers pay into the Social Security system but never can use) and "Si Se Puede! (Yes, we can)."

Also addressing the crowd briefly were Gov. Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit.

Carla Richardson, 23, of Detroit said she came to the afternoon gathering because she wanted to be a more informed voter.

"I'm paying more attention to affirmative action to vote no," the Enterprise manager said. "It takes away from college scholarships and diversity in the workforce."

Contact ZLATI MEYER at 248-351-3291 or meyer@freepress.com.