California Voters Kill Dem-Backed Measure Allowing Racial Discrimination
A measure reinstating preferential treatment based on race and gender in California failed at the polls.
Voters decided against repealing a 25-year-old ban on affirmative action in public hiring, contracting and college admissions.
With more than 11 million votes tallied Wednesday, Proposition 16 had only 44 percent approval, while the opposition had about 56 percent.
Supporters raised $31 million and include celebrities, tech companies and Democratic leaders.
Opponents raised $1.6 million, fueled by smaller donations from a grassroots network that includes Chinese immigrants worried that public universities will bypass Asian-American applicants with higher scores and grades in favor of lower-scoring African-American and Latino students.
They say racial discrimination should remain illegal.
Opponents celebrated their David versus Goliath victory as results rolled in.
The measure was passing in liberal San Francisco Bay Area counties and in Los Angeles County, but failing in other large Southern California counties.
Ward Connerly, the African-American businessman who led the 1996 campaign to end affirmative action and prohibit the state from discriminating against a person due to race or gender, said the campaign was “heartened” by the results.
“The people are saying we want to be treated as equals,” Connerly, 81, said.
Proponents did not respond to requests for comment, but they acknowledged before Election Day that the race would be tight.
They said they did not have enough time to campaign on what they say was a complicated issue.
Angel Chavez, 45, a San Diego tattoo artist and supporter of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday he voted against the affirmative action measure.
“I’m Mexican. Yet, I’ve never felt racism,” he said. “If I don’t get a job, it’s because somebody was more qualified.”
In San Francisco, Harry Rochester, who voted for Joe Biden for president, said he was sad when voters banned affirmative action.
“Being an African-American man in America, I don’t think I would have gotten as far as I have gotten today if it wasn’t for affirmative action,” Rochester, 40, said.
California voters banned affirmative action in 1996 through a ballot measure that was pushed by the Republican governor at the time, Pete Wilson.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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