Just minutes after finding out he had become the first
California governor in history to be recalled, Gray Davis could
still put on a smile for the defeat of Proposition 54.
“Thank you for having the wisdom to defeat Prop. 54
tonight,” Davis said in a speech conceding his governorship
to Arnold Schwarzenegger.
A controversial proposal to ban most collection of racial and
ethnic data by state agencies in California, Proposition 54 was
defeated by a majority of California voters in a decision announced
Tuesday night during the state’s historic recall election.
About 62 percent voted to oppose of the initiative.
“I’m so glad the voters were able to sift through a
very complicated initiative and discern it was a bad idea,”
said Elena Stern, spokeswoman for the Coalition for an Informed
California, an anti-Proposition 54 group.
Stern said voters realized the need for racial information as it
relates to health care, public safety and education, saying,
“the more they learned, the less they liked it.”
Kevin Nguyen, spokesman for Proponents of Proposition 54, said
although he and fellow supporters were disappointed, they
weren’t surprised the vote didn’t go their way, largely
because of its opponents outspending them with a “10 million
dollar campaign of fear.”
“We will continue to nibble at the edges as well as take
bold steps to maintain the focus on these little checkboxes that
have ruled our destinies for far too long,” Nguyen said.
The initiative was spearheaded by University of California
Regent Ward Connerly since September 2001 and had received vocal
opposition from a variety of civil rights groups since its
conception.
Originally slated for the March 2004 ballot, Proposition 54 was
moved up to October when the recall of Gov. Gray Davis was given
the green light.
Matt Kaczmarek, chairman of the UC Students Association, said he
is “incredibly happy” about the outcome of the vote
from his perspective as a student leader.
“We showed with enough work, we as students can get the
word out and really inform voters about this deceptive
initiative,” Kaczmarek said. “It wasn’t trying to
solve a problem, it was just going to eliminate evidence that there
was a problem,” he added.
A variety of high-profile political leaders are among those who
have taken a position against the proposition in the past year,
including UC President Robert Dynes, Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn
and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
“Californians agree that we must create a color-blind
society, but we can’t do that by putting blinders on the
government. This is a great victory,” said Lt. Gov. Cruz
Bustamante on election night.
Backers of the proposition said its passing would have helped
the movement toward a “color-blind” society. They also
argued it would end what they considered preferential treatment
based on race. California ended the consideration of race in
admissions and hiring after the passing of Proposition 209 in
1996.
Opponents said such an “information ban” could
hinder outreach efforts to send more underrepresented minorities to
UCs. They also argued it could have deadly consequences: although
there are exemptions for medicine mentioned in the proposal, it
sets a dangerous precedent for doctors researching and treating
race-related diseases.
The proposition also caused controversy within the UC recently,
when UC Berkeley’s student government caught the eyes of
administrators, having earmarked $35,000 to campaign against the
proposition. Under state law, university resources cannot be used
for campaign purposes.
In the aftermath of the defeat, both sides said they would
continue their respective fights for and against a ban on
collection of racial and ethnic data.
Nguyen said once the language in the proposal regarding
exemptions for health care is modified, the initiative, a movement
he calls “a new and bold approach” to a
“color-blind America,” could be back on the ballot.
Some UCLA students agree.
“It will happen eventually; people want equality. This
state will evolve,” said second-year business- economics and
political science student Jonathan Cohen, who attended
Schwarzenegger’s convention on election night.
But opponents say no matter what they do, advocates of
Proposition 54 will find little support from people educated about
the issue.
“It was an ill-conceived initiative from the beginning,
and to try and tinker with it and try it again will meet
significant opposition,” Stern said.