California’s affirmative action movement faced a setback this election season.
Over 56% of Californians voted against Proposition 16, which would have removed the state’s ban on public institutions prioritizing “race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin” in admissions or hiring. In other words, the ballot initiative would have allowed the return of affirmative action if it had passed.
It’s been, and continues to be, a long battle for the policy’s advocates. California became the first state to reject affirmative action, passing Proposition 209, a statewide ban, in 1996. In total, eight states prohibit affirmative action in college admissions.
California higher education scholars were disappointed but not altogether surprised the ban wasn’t overturned, despite the state’s left-leaning electorate and the poignance of the national moment, with widespread anti-racist protests this summer.
For one thing, Proposition 16 was overshadowed by the presidential election, said Dr. Gary Orfield, distinguished research professor of education, law, political science and urban planning, as well as the co-director of The Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles.
But he also felt the wording of Proposition 16 didn’t properly convey its aim.
“I think we should come back to this, but I think it should be framed differently,” he said. “It should be framed not as repealing an old proposition, which is how it was framed on the ballot, but it should be framed as expanding opportunity for every community in our state, increasing the capacity of our state to meet the level of preparation our labor market [requires], recognizing the fact that 55% of the students in California are Latino and only about a quarter of the students are actually White.”
