Jennifer Gratz on Proposition 107

From the Camp Verde Journal:

“A major proponent of ending affirmative action across the United States is Jennifer Gratz.

After graduating high school in 1995 with a 3.8 GPA and a fairly active student resume, Gratz applied to the University of Michigan, but was rejected.

“An investigation turned up the fact that the university was giving special preference to certain applicants base on their race.

“Gratz sued, and her case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices gave Gratz a victory and ended the racial preference program at the school, but only there.

“The experience drove Gratz to dedicate herself to trying to fight affirmative action everywhere. Today Gratz serves as director of state and local initiatives for the California-based American Civil Rights Coalition.

“She stopped by Camp Verde last week on a tour to share her feelings on affirmative action.

“‘Affirmative action started out as a good system that was supposed to have no regard for race,’ Gratz said. ‘But it’s morphed into something else.’

“Gratz argued that by giving people special treatment due to race and gender instead of treating everyone fairly, affirmative action has itself become a violation of American civil rights.
…
“Affirmative action can be a double-edged sword, Gratz said. Gratz talks about a black woman she met once in her travels.

“‘This woman, she told me that she had to keep her guard up, that she had to make sure she didn’t have an off day or make a mistake, or else everyone is going to say, ‘Oh, she just got in because of affirmative action,’ instead of her own merits,” Gratz said. ‘I want to be able to own my accomplishments, to own my future.’”