Affirmative Action is Not Color-Blind

Lady Justice would be required to peek beneath her blindfold to look at University of California applicants.

Ward Connerly was the Godfather of Proposition 209, a former University of California Regent, political activist, businessman, and founder/chairman of the American Civil Rights Institute, a national nonprofit organization that works to end racial and gender preferences. Connerly forced the UC System to become color-blind in its admissions policies. Affirmative Action was removed from the admissions standards for California’s universities in 1996 when Proposition 209 was passed.

 

The color of your skin is more important than the content of your character, according to supporters of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 (ACA-5). The Californian Legislative Black Caucus introduced legislation to repeal Proposition 209 in March. The Amendment is called the California Act for Economic Prosperity. The Opportunity for All Coalition and the Equal Justice Society are backers. 

 

The California Act for Economic Prosperity will likely pass both houses in Sacramento, because Democrats have enough votes to pass legislation without one Republican vote; putting it on the November 2020 ballot. Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that all voting in November will be by mail-in-ballots. The Republican Party is contesting this, arguing that it invites voter fraud and is unconstitutional. A lawsuit has been filed against Newson and Secretary of State Alex Padilla.    

 

Connerly queried “Why should the privileged son of a black millionaire be given preference over an underprivileged white son who grew up in poverty?” Instead of race, currently, UC considers things such as these: How many students from the applicant’s high school have gone to college? And is this the first student in his/her family to go to college? What is the family income level? Race-neutral programs targeting students from disadvantaged communities should be the goal, not government regulated race targets and quotas.   

 

The claim of Affirmative Action proponents is that it redresses the history of slavery and inequality. Many disagree, convinced that Affirmative Action is tantamount to racial discrimination. There is a maximum number of students that can be admitted to a school. When UC grants admission based on race, it is putting a cap on others. That is simple math. 

 

Asian Groups have organized against ACA-5. The 80-20 National Asian American Political Action Committee has fought in court to overturn college affirmative action policies because it discriminates against Asian-American applicants by holding them to a higher academic standard. Asians fight to overturn college affirmative action policies because Affirmative Action quotas will hurt their children's chances of admittance into competitive universities.
 

Claiming that President Trump is a racist, and that Affirmative Action is a nirvana, Eva Paterson, President of the Equal Justice Society, pontificates:  

 

“With opposition to President Trump expected to drive a liberal electorate this November, this is the right time to mount a challenge. Trump and his white supremacist friends have shown clearly that racism and discrimination is [sic] very much alive and well.”
 

“Hardworking Californians are not sharing our state’s prosperity – particularly women, blacks, Latino, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and low-wage workers.”

 

America had a black president for 8 years. California has had Democrat governors for 20 years. Somehow it is now President Trump’s fault that “Hardworking Californians are not sharing our state’s prosperity,” and giving preferences according to the color of someone’s skin is going to solve the problems. This would be a good belly laugh, if some did not believe it.