May 12, 2004
May 12, 2004
LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today said that while progress has been made on issues of race and inequality since the landmark decision in Brown v Board of Education 50 years ago, there is an economic imperative to fight the battles that will ultimately make Michigan a more strongly united state.
The Governor made her comments during the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus’ 50th Anniversary celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public education.
“I wish I could stand here today and say that Michigan is no longer challenged by issues of inequality,” Granholm said. “But we all know that there are still battles that we must fight in order to be One Michigan, a united state.
“Frankly, we just can’t afford to be two Michigans – east v. west, north v. south, suburb v. city, black v. white,” Granholm continued. “There is an economic imperative for us to focus not on how we are different or on issues that divide us, but on what unites us, or we will never move forward. Citizens and job providers alike seek a state that is united in its focus on the things that matter to all people – good jobs, great education, and affordable health care.”
Granholm said the next generation of workers and business leaders in our state are hungry for change and for a life that is filled with possibility. They value and embrace diversity and they want it in their communities, in their schools, and in their workplaces.
“The economies of today’s world are driven by smart brains – not by brains that come in only one color or only one shape or ethnicity, but smart brains that are backed up by good education,” Granholm said. “Fifty years after the Brown decision, we want every child to be asking not whether they’re going to college but where they’re going to college. This is my vision of One Michigan, the smartest state in the country, where we are building a diverse, united economic powerhouse for the 21st century.”
Granholm recently announced the Cherry Commission on Higher Education to identify solutions for doubling the number of students who go on to earn college degrees.
