The Associated Press article on California Proposition 209 (Main news, Aug. 29) calls the proposition an “affirmative action ban.” That is misleading.
I lived in California when the proposition was on the ballot. The language was simple: No more race-based discrimination. Specifically, public money cannot be allocated for programs that discriminate on the basis of gender or race. That means no unfair race-based quotas and no exclusion of one group to the benefit of another. Remember, it was moderates, led by African-American University of California Regent Ward Connerly, who won the battle for Proposition 209.
I believe the vast majority of voters in California did not wish to end programs that seek to provide opportunities for underrepresented minorities. In the words of President Clinton in his speech against the proposition, many of those in favor also wanted to “mend” affirmative action and “not end it.” With the passage of Proposition 209, that’s just what they accomplished.
