Civil Rights Groups: Proposition 54 Defeat is Victory for All
Feature Story by Ritu Kelotra - 10/8/2003
Civil rights groups today hailed the overwhelming defeat of Proposition 54, the so-called “Racial Privacy Initiative.” The measure was voted down on Tuesday in California’s special recall election, with 64 percent of the voters saying “no” and only 36 percent voting “yes.”“This is not just a great victory for the civil rights of all Californians, but also for preserving equal opportunity throughout the country,” Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said in a statement. “The voters of California have spoken clearly and forcefully that the collection of data is a critical tool in the process by which the state attempts to protect individuals from discrimination in areas including law enforcement, monitors and prevents disease, and ensures that all children have an equal opportunity to education.”
The campaign to pass Proposition 54 was led by Ward Connerly, who also was the primary force behind California’s Proposition 209 in 1996, which banned affirmative action programs in the state. In the final days before the vote on Proposition 54, Connerly had pushed his campaign into high gear by pleading with Californians for support, but apparently to no avail.
“Unlike with Proposition 209, the voters of California were fully aware of the implications of the so-called Racial Privacy Initiative and made the wise decision to reject it,” said Marisa Demeo, regional counsel and director of the Washington office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
If approved, Proposition 54 would have banned California from collecting racial data in all but a few exempted areas. Those who opposed the measure said that a data collection ban would damage the state’s ability to address disparities by race or ethnicity in health care and disease patterns, educational resources and academic achievement, and hate crimes and discrimination. Opponents of Proposition 54 included Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, the civil rights community, labor unions, educators, and health care providers, advocates, and officials.
“Defeat of Proposition 54 signifies that Ward Connerly and those who want to deny the existence of prejudice and racism have been repudiated. Collecting data is vital to combating discrimination,” Judith Lichtman, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said in a statement. “Connerly’s professed goal of color-blindness would not be reached by turning a blind eye to the very data that helps us provide equal opportunity for all.”
