By Maria Hickey, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A group called the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative has launched an effort to narrow the use of affirmative action in public institutions.
The organization is pushing to put the question on the November 2008 ballot.
Similar efforts have been successful in California, Washington, and Michigan.
The Initiative's spokesman Tim Asher says affirmative action should only be used for the economically disadvantaged.
"Frankly. I think the issue of judging people based on their skin color or their gender is a bit of a dinosaur, and we shouldn't be doing that anymore," Asher said.
Asher says the group will need about 150,000 signatures to get the question on the ballot in Missouri.
He says similar efforts are being made in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona.