Posted on 05/21/2004 1:02:56 PM PDT by pogo101
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."
I'm tempted to say, Bring It On! The leftist race-baiters would lose the lawsuit -- Cal.'s courts aren't liberal and repeatedly have upheld Prop 209 in the past -- AND, as a bonus, the acts of law-breaking that prompted it to be filed might end a few looney-lefty UC professors' and bureaucrats' careers.
True: ya gotta give 'em props for admitting they'll break the law, etc. to get whatever they want.
My daughter may soon be applying for college in CA in a few years, but even with a 99% on sats, she may not be accepted because we are of European American decent.
Am I being too cynical if I float the idea of her crafting a college-application essay along the lines of, "Being A Lesbian In A Republican Household: My Struggle To Come Out"? /snerk
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