A national coalition to defend affirmative action, known as By
Any Means Necessary, is working to overturn Proposition 209 and
bring affirmative action back to California. Proposition 209, which
voters passed in 1996, banned affirmative action in the state.
The coalition hopes to convince the University of California
administration to begin using affirmative action in hope of
bringing a lawsuit from a conservative group.
“We’re assuming that the right wing … will sue and
we’ll get the chance to bring down (Proposition) 209 in
court,” said Luke Massie, the national co-chair of By Any
Means Necessary.
Fifty years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of
Education ruling outlawed racial segregation in schools, the
coalition believes some form of racial segregation still
exists.
Proposition 209, as it is interpreted by current policy makers,
enforces “de facto segregation by outlawing any means that
could achieve integration,” Massie said.
“Without race-conscious measures it is simply not possible
to bring about the kind of integration that the (Supreme Court at
the time of the Brown v. Board ruling) proposed as the only method
of achieving equality of educational opportunity between the
races,” Massie said.
The coalition’s efforts may not be in vain because
Proposition 209 does have a chance of being overturned, said Andrew
Sabl, a UCLA professor of policy studies.
“I think there’s a decent chance you could get a
majority to repeal (Proposition) 209 ““ at least 50-50,”
Sabl said.
“(Proposition) 209 didn’t pass by that much, and the
electorate has changed since then,” he added. “It has
gotten more liberal.”
But not all see reestablishment of affirmative action as a
likelihood.
Diane Schachterle, director of public affairs for the American
Civil Rights Coalition, said she does not see a legitimate movement
to overturn Proposition 209.
This coalition opposes any form of affirmative action that gives
what it describes as racial preference to any group.
Schachterle said the efforts of By Any Means Necessary, which
she described as a “radical” group, are often
counterproductive, and it would be difficult for the coalition to
repeal Proposition 209.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June upheld the right of the
University of Michigan to use affirmative action in its admissions
process. Supporters of affirmative action have seen this decision
as a victory for affirmative action, though not an overwhelming
one.
“The Michigan ruling said that public universities could
use certain kinds of affirmative action, not that states had
to,” Sabl said.
While Proposition 209 was determined to be constitutional, the
coalition hopes the Michigan ruling will spur debate on the issue
of affirmative action and eventually lead to its
implementation.
“The Supreme Court is the high court of the United States,
and it has ruled in (the Michigan case) that diversity in higher
education is a compelling state interest that can justify the use
of affirmative action,” Massie said.
A report released Thursday by the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center
for African American Studies found high school students attending
schools with an African American or Latino majority have less
access to educational resources and are less likely to go to
college.
The report suggested there is a “trend toward
re-segregation and inequality in California’s public
schools” advanced by the end of affirmative action.
“The resegregation of public higher education in
California is rooted in Proposition 209 and in the UC Board of
Regents’ decision to end affirmative action in college
recruitment and admissions,” said Walter Allen, a UCLA
sociology professor, in the report.
Allen, the primary author of the report, called for a repeal of
Proposition 209.
But the “resegregation” of California’s public
schools is not the fault of Proposition 209, said Schachterle.
“The problem is K-12 schools (are) not preparing African
American and Latino students for the universities,” she
said.
She added affirmative action should not be used to make up for
the unpreparedness of students, and the students should be admitted
entirely “on their own merit.”