Metro

REMEMBERING DR. KING

Freedom Fighting

Sta ff p hotos by Arma n do Rios

Civil rights activist bolts Dr. King's teachings onto today's discriminatory challenges.

Robert A. Sklar

Editor

L

inda Parker was a little girl when
she and family members marched
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in
June 1963. That march in Detroit for jobs
and freedom provided a glimpse of King's
famous "I Have A Dream" speech, which
he would deliver two months later before a
crowd of 250,000 at the historic civil rights
march on Washington. The Civil Rights
Act of 1964 followed.
"While I wasn't quite aware of the
substantive issues that were at play and
why that march in Detroit was so impor-
tant, I knew that we were in a moment,"
said Parker, director of the Michigan
Department of Civil Rights since 2003.
The lawyer formerly was a partner at
Dickinson Wright in Detroit. She also
was a builder of the Michigan Alliance
Against Hate Crimes while working for
U.S. Attorney Saul Green in the Eastern
District of Michigan.
Parker keynoted the Martin Luther
King Jr. commemoration held Jan. 11
for 80 Jewish agency professionals,
Jews and non-Jews alike, at the Max M.
Fisher Federation Building in Bloomfield
Township. "It's so important to know that
you all care about taking some time to
really reflect on Dr. King and all he stood
for," she said. "Today presents for each of
us an opportunity to roll up our sleeves
and think about what tomorrow needs
to look like. We've got a lot of work that
needs to be done in Michigan. It is going
to take all of us"
Reminding that Michigan is the most
segregated state in the nation, the native
Detroiter said, "We missed our opportu-
nity to address that years and years ago
through a Supreme Court decision that
refused to mandate school desegregation.
Here we are some 40 years later with a
very, very racially divided state."

Proposal 2's Fallout
Parker's 133-member department fought
hard to defeat Proposal 2 last November.
The proposal sought to ban affirmative
action programs based on race, gender,
color, ethnicity or national origin in pub-
lic employment, education or contracting.
It passed 58 to 42 percent. Gov. Jennifer
Granholm directed Parker to assess the

Linda Parker addresses Jewish commu-
nal employees and leaders in the Butzel
Conference Suite at the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building.

Dr. King honed his Aug. 28,1963, "l Have A Dream" speech months earlier in Detroit.

"We've got to be vigilant in figuring out how to
bring people together because Michigan's future
depends upon it."

- Keynoter Linda Parker

impact of the vote on the state govern-
ment. That report is due to the governor
on Feb. 7.
"The Proposal 2 campaign was one
built upon lies and fraud," Parker charged.
"The law is not settled," she added.

"Democracy requires us to go into court
to seek clarification. It's our obligation
to do so; it's not that we're not accepting
reality"
Proposal 2 notwithstanding, Parker
vows that Michigan will find ways to

Devorah Rich of Federation's Planning
and Agency Relations felt "re-energized
by the important role each of us has to
work on a personal and communal level
to eliminate racism and promote social
justice."

capitalize on diversity and inclusion. "We
have to:' she said. "They are too critical
to everything that Michigan is about and
that Michigan needs to be about."
The state won't rebound from a
depressed economy without a turnaround
in the disparity propelled by significant
race and gender differences, Parker said.
"We have to step up our social activism
because the agenda is absolutely ours
over the next few years."
Michigan's kids and grandkids are at
risk, Parker said. "At the end of the day,

Freedom on page 14

January 18 w 2007

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