The California Assembly recently approved a bill that would give the state’s public universities the opportunity to consider race, gender and other demographics when they admit students. AB2047, which passed on a 44-24 vote, is now headed to the Senate.
Democratic Assemblyman Ed Hernandez introduced the bill to address the education gap in California. Latino and African American students lag behind Whites and Asians in college attainment.
I suspect it will be harder to get this bill by the California Senate. And, if it passes, then the proponents of Proposition 209—a California voter initiative banning public institutions from using race and gender in admissions or employment—would declare it is against the public will and potentially illegal. The passage of the bill may spark a vicious battle—possibly replaying the nasty war over Proposition 209.
Although it is enormously encouraging that Assemblyman Hernandez and other California politicians are deeply concerned about closing the gap between the races, I think they should have gone about it in a different manner.
Racists, consciously or unconsciously, no longer usually discriminate and demean using racial rhetoric or policies laced with racial language. It is time for those of us who are seeking to thwart educational racism to do the same.
We live in a country that is still in part dictated by racism, racial stereotypes, and race nationalism. However, unlike in previous ages, racial rhetoric showcasing the racism, stereotypes and nationalism has been pushed primarily into the private sphere.
The dispersion of racism without racial language has allowed racists to operate without restraint. It has also placed the onus on progressives to somehow prove racism in a situation lacking racist rhetoric in a country that has reduced racism to language.
