Measure to Restore Affirmative Action in California Fails
05 November 2020 - 6:45AM
Dow Jones News
By Christine Mai-Duc
California voters have rejected a measure that would have
allowed affirmative action in public employment, contracting and
university admissions 24 years after it was initially banned.
As of Wednesday morning local time, results showed 56% of
Californians voted against Proposition 16 and 44% in favor,
according to the Associated Press.
In addition, the hotly contested Proposition 22, which exempts
gig companies such as Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and
DoorDash Inc. from a new state labor law, passed with 58% support
as of Wednesday morning, according to the AP.
Another hard fought measure that would allow tax increases on
commercial property, ending limits that have been in place since
1978's Proposition 13, was too close to call as of Wednesday
morning. Opponents of this year's Proposition 15 led 52% to 48%,
according to the AP, with results from 72% of precincts
tabulated.
The result of the affirmative-action measure was a blow to
proponents who have long wanted to remove California from the list
of nine states that forbid affirmative action. They said it is
necessary to increase enrollment of Black and Latino students in
the state's higher-education system, which is below their share of
the state's public high school graduates.
The measure sought to repeal Proposition 209, passed by voters
in 1996, which prohibited the consideration of race, sex, color,
ethnicity or national origin by state and local government agencies
and public universities.
Supporters of affirmative action have monitored polling on the
issue for more than a decade. Over the summer, as protests raged
following the killing of George Floyd and a heightened focus on
racial justice issues, Prop. 16's backers sensed a path to victory.
The state legislature narrowly passed a bill to place the question
on the ballot and the Yes on 16 campaign drew support from Gov.
Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and a cadre of elected officials, public
university leaders and corporations.
Backers had hoped shifts in California's demographics and
politics -- the state is now majority nonwhite and no Republican
has been elected to statewide office since 2006 -- would boost its
chances of passage.
All together, supporters raised more than $31 million, most of
it from wealthy individuals including Los Angeles Clippers owner
Steve Ballmer, Patricia Quillin, wife of Netflix CEO Reed Hastings,
and Quinn Delaney, a former civil rights attorney who gave $7.9
million.
Opponents were led in part by a vocal contingent of
Asian-American activists who helped derail a similar effort in
2014. They raised just over $1.6 million, with support from a group
funded by conservative legal activist Ed Blum and small donations
from Chinese American individuals.
Borrowing quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., they argued that
a return to affirmative action in schools and public contracting
would undermine a system based on merit and take the wrong approach
of fighting discrimination with more discrimination.
While Asian-Americans have generally been supportive of
affirmative action in national surveys, polls have shown a decline
in support among Chinese Americans in particular, especially among
recent immigrants who are concerned affirmative action will
threaten their children's ability to gain entry into California's
elite public universities.
Asian-Americans are overrepresented at University of California
schools compared with their share of the state's public high school
graduates.
--Melissa Korn contributed to this article.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 04, 2020 14:30 ET (19:30 GMT)
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