Michigan suffered a setback with its recent referendum banning affirmative action statewide, but its citizens must keep the dream of civil rights alive, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said last week.

In a fiery speech in Rose Arena, the national civil rights leader asked a crowd of more than 5,500 to honor the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. by pushing for social justice and registering to vote. The speech was one of several activities planned by CMU to recognize the slain leader.

Jackson, who emerged as King's successor when he was assassinated in 1968, said many have mischaracterized affirmative action victories as strictly black entitlement programs. Last fall, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal 2, which bans government and universities from using affirmative action in hiring and admissions decisions.

"Affirmative action is a majority program, not a minority program," Jackson said. "Most of the battle is about race, which is a misrepresentation of the facts. Women and minorities are in the majority."

Jackson said fighting for social justice is hard work, recalling the numerous violent attacks and arrests suffered by King between 1955 and 1968. After winning civil rights legislation victories in Washington, D.C., King considered returning to private life, but then resolved to push forward, Jackson said.

Even on King's last birthday before his death, Jackson said, King was planning a new social movement to bring all races together in a bid to end poverty and the war in Vietnam.

That dream hasn't died, Jackson said, noting the new conflict in Iraq.

"We sit here, white and black and brown, together," Jackson said. "We will have a new America. We will get there together."

Jackson ended his speech with a prayer to end the violence in Iraq and by calling for CMU students to register to vote. Several dozen students approached the podium to signal their intent to cast their voice in the next election.

"The challenge is to learn to live together," Jackson said.

Jackson is president and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization devoted to social justice and peace. He was a Democratic candidate for president in 1984 and 1988, and he often has served as an international diplomat, sometimes negotiating the release of U.S. military personnel held captive overseas.