Save Equal Opportunity! Take Action Now!

Posted on July 18, 2008 
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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 
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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.

Read more

Disturbing Trend in Law School Diversity

Posted on June 16, 2008 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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 
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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

Papers Being Presented Today

Posted on October 26, 2007 
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A Vision Fulfilled? The Impact of Proposition 209 on Equal Opportunity for Women Business Enterprises
Monique W. Morris, Michael D. Sumner, Jessica Z. Borja

Affirmative Action Programs and Business Ownership among Minorities and Women

Robert Fairlie, Justin Marion

Diversity Management in America and the Affirmative Action Debate in France
Christine Pauwels

The Effectiveness of Affirmative Action in Highway Procurement
Justin Marion

Free to Compete? Measuring the Impact of Proposition 209 on Minority Business Enterprises
Monique W. Morris, Sirithon Thanasombat, Michael D. Sumner, Sara Pierre, Jessica Z. Borja

The Impact of State Affirmative Procurement Policies on Minority- and Women- Owned Businesses in Five States
Tim Lohrentz

Minority Preferences In Public Contracts
Christopher M. Westhoff, Jess J. Gonzalez

Using Race or Ethnicity as Factors in Employee and Contractor Outreach
David Benjamin Oppenheimer

Impact of Prop. 209 on Labor and Employment

Posted on October 26, 2007 
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Scholars and labor experts will today discuss at UCLA how Prop. 209 has impacted labor and employment in California at a symposium titled “Economic Opportunity in California: The Labor & Employment Impact of Prop. 209.”

Proposition 209, California’s anti-affirmative action initiative, went into effect in 1997. Much of the research on Proposition 209 in the decade since has focused on the impact of the initiative in higher education admissions. There has been comparatively little research examining the impact of the initiative on public employment and contracting, and even less that looks at the secondary socio-economic impacts of the initiative. These issues are becoming increasingly crucial to examine as proponents of Proposition 209 seek to place similar initiatives on the ballot in a number of other states. 

The symposium, which takes place from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the UCLA Faculty Center, 480 Charles Young Drive East, is organized by the California Coalition to Analyze the Impact of Proposition 209 (Impact 209 Coalition) and UCLA’s ethnic studies centers. Various other UCLA centers, programs and student organizations are co-sponsoring. The Impact 209 Coalition’s current research initiative is supported in part by grants from the Fulfilling the Dream Fund and the Akonadi Foundation.

Thomas A. Saenz, counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, will give the keynote address. Other speakers at the symposium include:

 California voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996, enacting a ban on the use of race-conscious equal opportunity programs in public education, employment. The initiative, which was rejected by a majority of the state’s African American, Latino and Asian American voters, went into effect without significant empirical research on the potential social and economic effects on California.

In 1996 and today, much of the public dialogue over Proposition 209 has been driven by rhetoric divorced from social science research. Additionally, the state of California has not assessed the effects of this dramatic policy change, especially in light of the dramatic demographic shifts that have taken place since Proposition’s passage.

Social and racial justice advocates have been concerned about learning the true impact that Proposition 209 had on the state of California and decided to begin articulating a vision for statewide policy solutions that bring about fair and equal access to opportunity.

Bios of speakers, presentation abstracts and papers are available on http://impact209.org.

Impact 209 Symposium Still On; Not Impacted by SoCal Fires

Posted on October 23, 2007 
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The Impact 209 symposium is still on schedule. The firestorms in Southern California (Google Maps) have not impacted UCLA. But please book extra time to arrive at UCLA due to increased traffic conditions.

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