MI Congressional representatives, past and present: on Civil Rights

Marcia Squier: Racial inequality continues to be a serious problem

Marcia Squier: Agree

Rep. Brenda Lawrence (Dem.): Strongly agree

Q: What would you do about it?

Squier: I agree that racial inequality continues to be a serious problem in America. I believe that all people are created equal, and that reparations need to be made in order to begin to move towards healing the racial divisiveness. i believe that racism is a learned behavior, and although some progress has been made, we still have a long way to go, especially in terms of police brutality, education, and health care. I would support strict accountability legislation for all authority figures, flipping the current status quo. Authority figures MUST be held to a higher standard of justice than the American public. It is their choice to "protect & serve", and they will be held accountable.

Lawrence: We need comprehensive criminal justice reform, comprehensive immigration reform, & education equality.

Rocky Raczkowski: Keep Don't Ask, Don't Tell military policy

The two candidates have become cartoon caricatures of their respective parties. Peters gets painted as a flaming liberal who kowtows to the "socialist" liberal agenda and Raczkowski is deemed a tin-foil hat wearing ultra right-wing lunatic. Case in point: this Freep summation of their positions on the only other 3 issues in this election:

• Health care reform
  Peters: Supported
  Raczkowski: Wants to repeal
• Gays in the military
  Peters: Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy
  Raczkowski: Keep the policy
• Federal enforcement of medical marijuana laws
  Peters: Wants Michigan voters' legalization of medical marijuana implemented without federal interference
  Raczkowski: Wants no further expansion of medical marijuana law