The 8-member Michigan Civil Rights Commission was created by the Michigan Constitution to safeguard constitutional and legal guarantees against discrimination. The Commission is charged with investigating alleged discrimination against any person because of religion, race, color or national origin, genetic information, sex, age, marital status, height, weight, arrest record, and physical and mental disability. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights serves as the operational arm of the Commission..
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has stated that an effective education is a basic civil right. The Commission has now released a comprehensive report describing inequities in Michigan's K-12 education system and detailing specific recommendations for action that policy makers and educators can implement to make achieving educational equity a priority in all Michigan schools. The report is the culmination of a series of public hearings throughout the state and a year-long examination of disparities in K-12 education in Michigan.
After a year-long investigation, three public hearings, testimony of more than 150 residents, community leaders, experts, academics and government officials, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission finds that race and racism played a significant role in causing the Flint water crisis, and all races were victims.
Read the full Commission report, "The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint" here and the Executive Summary and Recommendations here.
Read A One-Year Update on the Recommendations in "The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint" here.
At the July 24, 2017 meeting of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Equality Michigan (EQMI) asked the Commission to issue an interpretive statement to clarify that the prohibition against sex discrimination in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) includes protection against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Commission accepted public comments on the EQMI request from July 25 through August 15, 2017, which are accessible below.
