What are the statewide ballot initiatives?
Prop 209 was a 1996 ballot initiative in California that banned the practice of affirmative action throughout the state. A nearly identical ballot initiative passed in Michigan in 2006 as Prop 2/Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. Both were initiated by Connerly and his allies, and both passed. Prop 209 has decimated minority representation in California’s flagship universities. As Lauren Dunn recently noted in a Campus Progress article: “In Los Angeles County, which has the second largest African American population in the entire United States, the most prestigious local public university, UCLA, has only 96 African-Americans as part of this year’s freshman class of 4,852 students. That’s only 2 percent, and it represents the smallest population of African-American UCLA students in over 30 years.” What is the future of affirmative action? Connerly and his allies are planning a “Super Tuesday for equality.” Translation: They’re planning to push ballot proposals like Prop 2 and Prop 209 in
