Vote: Yes 54%. No 46%.
Provisions: This proposition provides for the elimination of affirmative action programs in order to end preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, contracting, and education.
Pro-Con: (Pro) The civil rights movement has been thrown off track by special interest groups. The current affirmative action program operates on a principle of reverse discrimination. The government imposed quotas and preferences are no longer fair to all people. Students are being denied admission because of their race, not their academic ability. Job applicants are being turned down because their race does not meet hiring goals, and contracts are being awarded to higher bidders because they are of the preferred race.
(Con) Equal rights for women and minorities are harmed. Special programs that are designed to assist women and minorities to ensure equal opportunity are eliminated. Many feel the proposition goes too far by indiscriminately eliminating all equal opportunity programs. More specifically it creates a loophole that allows for discrimination against women. The result of this proposition will to create more division in the community. Possibly the current affirmative action program needs some revision, but not total elimination.
Implementation: The day after the passage of the proposition in the 1996 November General election, the Coalition for Economic Equity (representing such groups as California NAACP and the California Labor Federation) and the American Civil Liberties Union filed an injunction against the proposition. Ever since then, proposition 209 has gone through a series of litigation, the last of which ended at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On August 21, 1997, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to consider an appeal against proposition 209. There were numerous dates in which groups tried to block the implementation of the proposition. On September 4, 1997, the supreme court refused to halt the proposition, which allowed the measure to remain in effect. As of yet, there has been no word on the effects of the proposition in the University of California Admissions statistics and employment statistics because of the recent implementation.
Contact: John Thompson
Contact: Isaac Raya
Last Revised: November 19, 1997