Colorado Voters Reject Ward Connerly’s Attack on Opportunity

Posted on November 7, 2008
Filed Under Ballot Initiatives | Comments Off

OCT. 7 UPDATE: We may see the end of the Ward Connerly anti-opportunity initiatives.

The Rocky Mountain News reported yesterday that voters in Colorado have rejected Amendment 46, Ward Connerly’s ballot initiative to destroy equal opportunity programs and policies in that state.

Coloradans soundly defeated this attack on equal opportunity because they know that thriving cities and states are built on strong and diverse communities and equal opportunity helps make that possible.

The Equal Justice Society was part of a broad coalition of groups supporting our allies on the ground in Colorado working to defeat the initiative. The defeat of Colorado’s Amendment 46 is the second time that a state’s electorate has rejected Ward Connerly’s deceptive and misleading anti-opportunity movement, and offers hope that Proposition 209 in California may be living on borrowed time.

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as our nation’s first Black president shows that we’ve made tremendous progress as a country. But to have that type of gain at the national level only to suffer setbacks to equal opportunity at the state level (as we’ve seen in Nebraska) shows that we’ve still got a long way to go.

This is a huge victory for Coloradans and for the country. Ward Connerly planned to bring anti-opportunity initiatives to five states with his dishonest tactics, but working with our allies in Colorado and across the country we kept him off three state ballots. And we’ve now defeated him in Colorado, one of the final two.

With victory in Colorado and a setback in Nebraska, we must continue our battle for equal opportunity everywhere.

Ward Connerly won’t stop. And we won’t either.

Support the Equal Justice Society’s efforts to continue our collective struggle for equal opportunty.

Join us at our 2008 EJS Annual Gala on Friday, December 5, from 6 p.m. to Midnight at The Regency Center, 1290 Sutter Street, San Francisco (click here for more details) or make a contribution today. Your support for our event or your donation will enable us to continue our work in expanding opportunity.

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Social Equity Videos by Society of American Law Teachers

Posted on October 8, 2008
Filed Under Ballot Initiatives | Leave a Comment

The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) today released two voter education videos on the benefits of maintaining policies of social equity and opportunity. The videos are intended for distribution in Nebraska and Colorado, where anti-affirmative action initiatives qualified for the November 4th ballot.

The shorts were created by Sean Nalaboff, a young student filmmaker, and feature two prominent African Americans discussing their views of affirmative action. One video features Mary, the first woman to be elected president of her union. The other features Lance, the first African American to be elected president of the local bar association.

Denver Post: Amendment 46 Wrong for Colorado

Posted on October 8, 2008
Filed Under Ballot Initiatives | Leave a Comment

The Denver Post yesterday came out against the Connerly initiative in Colorado:

Amendment 46 isn’t as simple as it seems, and there have been disingenuous arguments on both sides of the issue to further muddy the waters.

We hope Colorado voters take the time to understand what it means and what it will do. And then, we hope they vote it down.

In short, this ballot question purports to end discrimination, but what it would really do is slam shut the small — and let us emphasize small — window that allows race and gender to be factors in state college admissions and in the awarding of government contracts.

Amendment 46 is being pushed by Ward Connerly, a Californian trying to export his political solutions to states that don’t necessarily want or need them.

Read the full editorial

Save Equal Opportunity! Take Action Now!

Posted on July 18, 2008
Filed Under Announcements | Leave a Comment

Affirmative action is one tool to provide individuals with access to equal opportunities and to remedy the present day and historic effects of discrimination. Anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives were approved by voters in California (Proposition 209 in 1996), Washington State (Initiative 200 in 1998), and Michigan (Proposal 2 in 2006), and have significantly set back efforts to expand access to higher education, employment, and contracting for women and people of color.

Now opponents of affirmative action are seeking to end equal opportunity programs and policies in Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona. Such a ban would put numerous inclusive business programs at risk, and dismantle widely supported programs aimed to increase diversity in public education.

Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona need your help! Please help support local efforts to preserve equal opportunity by 1) contributing directly to ballot initiative opposition campaigns; 2) signing up to receive national e-updates on efforts to preserve equal opportunity, and 3) educating your friends and colleagues on the importance of standing up for equal opportunity. Please visit the following sites to learn more about and support local coalition efforts:

Colorado - http://www.coloradounity.org/
Nebraska - http://www.nebraskansunited.org/
Arizona - http://www.protectarizonafreedom.org/

To stay informed about efforts to counter anti-Equal Opportunity initiatives, visit the Americans for a Fair Chance Project’s website at www.fairchance.org. You can sign up there for the weekly newsletter Affirmative Action in the News.

For additional information, please contact:
Sara Jackson
EJS/Impact 209 National Affirmative Action Coordinator
Equal Justice Society
220 Sansome Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 288-8717
sjackson@equaljusticesociety.org

Greenlining Institute Report: UC Medical School Failing to Keep up with California’s Diversity

Posted on June 16, 2008
Filed Under News, Impact | Leave a Comment

The Greenlining Institute, a multiethnic research and advocacy institute, on Thursday released a report on the diversity of the University of California’s medical student body. Among the findings: although African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans make up more than 40 percent of the population of California, they comprise less than 20 percent of UC medical students. [Thanks to Hector Preciado for sharing this news with us.]

The Greenlining report analyzes official enrollment data from the University of California Office of the President, which shows the number of applicants, accepted students, and enrollees at each of the five UC medical school campuses of each race, from 2001-2007.

To access the report online, follow http://greenlining.org/documents/view/217.

Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity

Posted on June 16, 2008
Filed Under News, Impact | Leave a Comment

From the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) blog, via our new legal intern Aman Sebahtu: Despite the rise in the number of available seats in American law schools, up nearly 4,000 seats in the last fifteen years, African American and Mexican American enrollment has decreased at an alarming rate. Overall these applicants are showing better conventional stats–LSAT scores and college grade point averages–yet they are vanishing from law schools. That translates into fewer attorneys of color in America’s future. This means a less diverse bench and bar.

This analysis, based on Law School Admission Council data, is now available on the website “A Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity,” created by Columbia Law School’s Lawyering for the Digital Age Clinic in collaboration with SALT. The site was created by SALT member, and former SALT board member, Conrad Johnson, Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School who is recognized nationally as a leader in innovative legal education, access to justice and technology.

Read the rest of the post

Backers of Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative Fail Signature Drive in Missouri

Posted on May 7, 2008
Filed Under News, Announcements | Leave a Comment

Missourians won a major victory in the fight for fairness and equal opportunity on May 6 when the so-called Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) failed to qualify for the November ballot, the ACLU announced in the press release issued yesterday.

One of a series of ballot proposals California businessman Ward Connerly has spearheaded across the country, the MoCRI aimed to eliminate affirmative action programs that help to open doors to opportunity for countless people of color and women across the state. The defeat of the MoCRI affirms what recent polls have shown: that a strong majority of Americans – 70% according to The Pew Research Center – support affirmative action.

“Today’s victory shows that, when held up to public scrutiny, Connerly’s initiative can’t pass muster,” said Brenda Jones, Executive Director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri. “The citizens of Missouri have a firm commitment to equality, and have demonstrated that commitment by refusing to fall for Connerly’s tricks.”

As the May 4 deadline to submit signatures loomed, Connerly and his allies engaged in questionable tactics, including tricking voters into signing their petitions, in a desperate attempt to collect the roughly 140,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. And when Secretary of State Robin Carnahan revised the MoCRI’s ballot language to make voters aware of its impact on affirmative action, Connerly and his allies sued her.

The ACLU filed an amicus brief in support of Secretary of State Carnahan and joined with WeCAN MO – a coalition of faith groups, community and labor organizations, students, and businesspeople – to educate voters about the true intent of the MoCRI.

“Trying to push through an initiative voters don’t understand is not true democracy,” said Brenda Jones. “When equal opportunity and the civil rights of our citizens are at stake, it is critically important that the electoral process be fair, transparent and honest.”

The defeat of the MoCRI comes on the heels of another Connerly defeat in Oklahoma, where he and his allies last month moved to withdraw their so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative (OKCRI) after a group of concerned citizens, represented by the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, filed a lawsuit challenging OKCRI’s fraudulent signature-gathering tactics.

Legislative Briefing on Impact of Prop 209

Posted on March 27, 2008
Filed Under Impact | Leave a Comment

In 1996, Proposition 209 eliminated affirmative action in public education, employment, and contracting. Recent research conducted by the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice, the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, and the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity will provide legislators and staff with information regarding the impact of the elimination of affirmative action on business, employment and education opportunities for people of color and women of all racial groups.

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Capitol Building, Room 127
Noon to 1 p.m.

This briefing will provide a framework to discuss legislative options that support inclusive business and educational practices that have the greatest potential to improve outcomes for California’s diverse populations.

Presenters include representatives from: Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice (UC Berkeley School of Law); Insight Center for Community Economic Development; and Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity (UC Berkeley School of Law).

Sponsored by The California Commission on the Status of Women, California Women’s Legislative Caucus, Latino Legislative Caucus, Legislative Black Caucus, Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, Insight Center for Community Economic Development, and the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law

AP: Race-Based Admissions in LA Schools OK, Says Judge

Posted on December 12, 2007
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment

From the Associated Press (Dec. 12, 2007):

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s practice of using race as a factor in enrolling students for its popular magnet programs doesn’t violate an anti-discrimination law, a judge has ruled.

In a ruling filed Monday, Superior Court Judge Paul Gutman upheld the nation’s second-largest school district’s integration plan, which also buses volunteer minority students to schools in certain parts of the city.

The American Civil Rights Foundation had filed a lawsuit in 2005 claiming the district’s practice violated a voter-approved initiative that outlaws racial preferences in all public programs in California.

District officials contend they are exempt from the court order and the state law because they’re operating under a 1981 court-ordered desegregation program.

“It appears quite clearly and beyond dispute that … LAUSD was ordered to employ race and ethnicity to ensure that the magnet schools would in fact be segregated,” Gutman said. He noted that the 1981 order did not set a date for desegregation goals to be achieved.

“It thereby becomes beyond rational argument that the order approving implementation of the desegregation plan … still exists … and has never been affected by any subsequent ruling,” the judge said.

An attorney for the foundation said he planned to appeal the decision.

Thank You and Evaluation Form Request

Posted on October 31, 2007
Filed Under Symposium 2007, Announcements | Leave a Comment

Thank you to the participants, speakers and staff who contributed to Friday’s symposium on Economic Opportunity: The Labor and Employment Impact of Proposition 209 at the UCLA Faculty Center.

If you registered for the symposium - whether or not you were able to attend - please help us by completing an online survey. It will help us assess the symposium content and planning. Download papers presented at the symposium and other resources on this site.

Special thanks to the Fulfilling the Dream Fund and the Akonadi Foundation for their generous support!

We would like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their assistance: Read more

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Colorado Voters Reject Ward Connerly’s Attack on Opportunity

Social Equity Videos by Society of American Law Teachers

Denver Post: Amendment 46 Wrong for Colorado

Save Equal Opportunity! Take Action Now!

Greenlining Institute Report: UC Medical School Failing to Keep up with California’s Diversity

Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity

Backers of Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative Fail Signature Drive in Missouri

Legislative Briefing on Impact of Prop 209

AP: Race-Based Admissions in LA Schools OK, Says Judge

Thank You and Evaluation Form Request

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