State takes 1st step to overturn ban on affirmative action
SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers advanced a constitutional amendment Wednesday to overturn Proposition 209, the affirmative action ban approved by state voters in the 1990s that critics say perpetuates inequality for women and people of color.
By a vote of 589, the Assembly passed ACA5, which would strip language from the state Constitution prohibiting the consideration of race and sex in public education, employment and contracting.
It is the first major step toward rescinding the law, a decision that would ultimately be left to California voters. If approved in the Senate by a twothirds vote by June 25, the measure will appear on the
November ballot, giving the state a chance to weigh in on the issue for the first time in a generation. Voters could repeal Prop. 209 by a simple majority.
Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, the San Diego Democrat who is carrying ACA5, said mass uprisings in recent weeks against police brutality and systemic racism have shown that new solutions are needed to address the discrimination that remains in many communities.
“As we look around the world, we see there is an urgent cry — an urgent cry for change,” Weber said on the Assembly floor. “After 25 years of quantitative and qualitative data, we see that raceneutral solutions cannot fix problems steeped in race.”
The ban on affirmative action has been part of the California Constitution for almost a quartercentury. Championed by thenGov. Pete Wilson as he launched an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for president, Prop. 209 passed in 1996 with nearly 55% of the vote. It pushed the state into what supporters hailed as a new era of equal opportunity under the law, where Californians would be judged only by their merit.
Critics argue the law has instead been devastating for women and people of color — curtailing efforts to diversify university campuses, police departments and school workforces, and costing small businesses owned by women and people of color billions of dollars in public contracts.
Several legislators said Wednesday that they were the beneficiaries of affirmative action policies, opportunities that they said had been denied to younger generations because the state could not directly address the unequal circumstances in which they were born.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, DSan Diego, credited affirmative action for her admission to Stanford University and a master’s program at Georgetown University. In school, she said, teachers had lower expectations for her than her white peers.
“We can’t create colorblindness, and it doesn’t exist,” she said.
But opponents argue that instead of leveling the playing field, ACA5 would promote prejudice by allowing universities, schools and government agencies to use race or sex in their admissions criteria, hiring and procurement decisions.
“The act of giving special or preferential treatment to someone based on their race is racism itself, or on sex is sexism,” said Assemblyman Steven Choi, RIrvine. “Just ask yourself, is it right to give someone a job just because they are white or black or green or yellow? Or just because they are male?”
The Legislature last took up the issue in 2014, when the state Senate passed a proposed constitutional amendment that would have asked voters to reverse the ban on consideration of race and sex in college admissions. The Assembly shelved the measure after Asian Americans said it could limit their children’s ability to get into California’s most selective public universities, where Asian Americans make up a greater share of students than in the overall population.
That tension was laid bare again Wednesday. Several Asian American legislators who ultimately voted for the measure said proponents of bringing back affirmative action had not done enough outreach to their community. They said many of their constituents fear a repeal of Prop. 209 would undo gains they have worked hard to achieve.
“Asian Americans, just like everyone else, we are seeking equal opportunity. We want to be treated fairly,” said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, DTorrance (Los Angeles County).
Assemblyman Evan Low, DCampbell, said his office had received more than 3,000 calls from constituents who opposed ACA5 and only 99 from people who supported it. He raised the possibility that his vote could cost him his seat, adding that he had heard from elected officials in his district who asked him, “Aren’t you yellow? Why are you voting against your own people?”
Supporters believe 2020 represents their best chance yet to challenge Prop. 209, with opposition to President Trump expected to drive a motivated liberal electorate to the polls in November.
National protests against the police killing of George Floyd have also rapidly shifted the conversation on racial justice in communities across the country. At memorials and news conferences over the past two weeks, black legislators have asked the public to support an agenda that includes reinstating affirmative action in California.
“We are in a season of change. We are in a revolution of change,” said Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager, DLos Angeles. “Let’s not sleep through this.”