SRG: Editorial-> Prop 209 - Civil Rights Victory

Prop 209 -- Civil Rights Victory
Say NO! to ALL arbitrary discrimination

The U.S. Supreme Court strikes another blow for equality in the eyes of the law.
Today, November 3, 1997, the United States Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY turned back an attempt to continue racist and sexist injustice in our land. They did this by upholding California's "Prop 209." which is also known as the "California Civil Rights Initiative."
"Civil Rights? I thought this law ended affirmative action?"
Correct on both counts my dear reader. Prop 209 reaffirms California's commitment to equality for all. You might have thought that this was already the law, and it should have been. But through a perverse twist, many of the groups who you might think have the most to gain from ending institutionalized discrimination, actually are the ones struggling to keep it alive!
California and indeed the Nation have turned away from a "dream where my children will be judged not on the color of their skin, but the content of their character." toward a world where everybody says "No discrimination... Unless it favors me."
"Two wrongs don't make a right." I cannot be the only child who learned this at his mother's knee. You cannot undo one injustice by perpetrating another.
In the imaginary science-fiction world of "Star Trek" there is a place where sons and grandsons are held accountable for the specific crimes of their forefathers. And, apparently, some minority groups here on our planet would like to implement a similar policy.
I was outraged when I heard that some bad cops like to pull motorists over just because they are black. That's unacceptable behavior and as a nation, we must not allow that.
But should our response be to instruct police to seek out and harass white motorists so that everybody can get the same feeling? That's a pretty stupid idea isn't it? And yet, that is all that affirmative action has become.
There are two absolutely unacceptable by-products created as a result of affirmative action and other quota systems.

A clear message is sent to the recipients, "You're not good enough to compete on your own. The only way you will ever amount to anything is if somebody gives it to you."
More qualified candidates and bidders must be punished for crimes that they didn't commit. In fact, crimes that weren't even committed against the people who receive the benefit of the quota.

I may expand on these two topics in another editorial. At this time, let me tell you about my son, Alex.
While he was in second grade at Peter Crump Elementary School in Montgomery Alabama, his teacher called my wife and myself in for a conference. She told us that Alex wasn't being challenged enough by his current class. Because he was a strong reader and because we encouraged good study habits, Alex was well ahead of his classmates. The teacher said the best thing we could do would be to apply for the "magnet school." There, he would be learning along with other children at a similar level. She handed us the application and agreed to write a letter of recommendation.
What else could we feel but pride? Of course we completed all the paperwork including signatures and several letters of recommendation and copies of his outstanding progress reports.
Within a few months (prior to the start of the next school year) we received a confirmation from the school district. Our son met the criteria and was eligible to attend this advanced school.
The news gets better, there were openings at the school. Whew, only one more hurdle to clear... oh shit! I forgot, our son is W-H-I-T-E.
Sorry, Alex. I know you didn't ask for it, but you're white, like your parents. And **THERE IS** a waiting list for WHITE children. You see the school has open quotas for blacks and mexicans and orientals and "native" americans and ... and ... and ... (well, you get the picture.) "You're number 13 on the WHITE waiting list. Don't call us, we'll call you if TWELVE other white children drop out of the program.
So my son gets a small taste of the same sick, institutionalized BIGOTRY that used to get heaped upon black children. "You don't belong here, your skin is the wrong color."
Why? What crime did my 8 year-old commit? Why, the same one that Dr. King's children committed. His skin is the wrong color, and people running the show are VERY concerned with the color of the children they let into this exclusive school. "We have to maintain the proper percentages." You see, this magnet school is intended to attract SOME white students from the suburbs and private schools back into downtown Montgomery. But we cannot allow children to attend based upon their qualifications, we've gotta meet our quota.
No thanks. I know a raw deal when I see one and apparently I'm not the only one. Californian's passed Prop-209 because the existing system wasn't just sick, it was cancerous. By denying entry into colleges based upon skin color or by wasting tax-dollars on excessive bids to less efficient contractors, our state was attempting to correct a past injustice by punishing people who took NO PART in the original crime.
And apparently the Supreme Court agrees. They UNANIMOUSLY rejected the appeal and cleared the way for equality in the eyes of the law, FINALLY.
Now, if you prohibit some child from attending a particular school because she is black or a girl or a protestant or a jew, it will be a crime. Prop-209 does NOT advance the cause of whites over any other race. It simply and unwaveringly makes it ILLEGAL TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANYONE on arbitrary characteristics like race. In America, if you're the best, you deserve the chance to advance as far as you can go. And with that right, goes the responsibility to achieve or to fail on your OWN MERITS. Or as one very wise man said "by the content of your character, not by the color of your skin."

Prop. 209
The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.
Daniel Sherer

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Last Modified: Monday, 29-Jun-2009 21:00:57 EDT