Californians have an opportunity to reverse Prop 209 and reinstate Affirmative Action

Proposition 16 is a constitutional amendment repealing Proposition 209 passed in 1996. When the people of California approved Prop. 209, they effectively ended Affirmative Action in this state. This November 3rd, Californians have an opportunity to reverse the decision and reinstate Affirmative Action; policies that positively support members of disadvantaged or underrepresented groups that have historically suffered from racism and discrimination. Prop.16, specifically seeks to eliminate discrimination in education and employment.

Ward Connerly, one of the lead advocates who sought to remove Affirmative Action policies, has argued that preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin reinforced an inferiority complex in marginalized communities. The rhetoric exhorted by Prop 209 supporters have misrepresented the United States as being a post-racial society. Interestingly enough, proposition 209 passed during the time where our country disproportionately imprisoned the Black community in the profound phenomena known as mass incarceration.

The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy DeGruy, documents a causal relationship between the reduction of education and employment opportunities to the increase of crime rates and thus incarceration rates. The passing of Prop 209 in 1996 aided in the reinforcement of the school to prison pipeline.

According to the New York Times, the effect of Proposition 209 on California’s elite universities was immediate. Black and Hispanic enrollment at UC Berkeley and UCLA campuses fell steeply. The most drastic of these reductions were Black and Hispanic students who sat on the periphery for enrollment. In effect, this group lost their grip of being selected and dropped out of the system entirely.

The results of a comprehensive study conducted by UC Berkeley economists found students of color earned five percent less on average every year due to the passage of Prop. 209 and the immediate reduction of ethnic diversity on UC campuses. This debilitating effect persisted into their mid-30s, when the study period ended. The impact on wages was concentrated among Hispanic students, who were also significantly less likely to earn more than $100,000 per year.

Another intersection lies when examining how the opportunity cost of reduced enrollment for Black and Hispanic wealth was compounded by an emerging tech market. In California, the tech industry has created millionaires in a relatively quick time span. High paying,specialized jobs are of plenty in Silicon Valley, yet a 2018 diversity report highlighted that the majority of Black workers are filled in administrative support roles.

Prop 16 is important to reapply an equitable lens to how under-invested communities interact with the state and its various institutions. To say that employers should seek the most qualified candidate ignores the advantages that have created “more qualified” candidates; candidates who’s resources have been reinforced by the proclivities of redlining that have been sanctioned by the state government itself; such as the funding of schools using property taxes. There is an inextricable link between the wealth gap, access to quality education, historic state sanctioned housing segregation, and Prop 209 that must be rectified and Prop 16 seeks to amend that.

This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.