Ballot Proposition Threatens to Create Bitter Racial Preferences
A group of community leaders and politicians are warning California voters about the dangers of Proposition 16, which will appear on this November’s ballot. The measure seeks to repeal Proposition 209 from the California Constitution and reintroduce institutionalized and legal race-based admissions, contracting and hiring policies in all California public school settings.
California State Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) represents the 34th Assembly District, which encompasses most of Kern County. He earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, a master’s degree from Princeton University and also served as the district director to House Majority Leader and Congressman Kevin McCarthy.
“So many immigrants choose to come to America to seek opportunity because this is a country that doesn’t discriminate based on race, sex, ethnicity or national origin,” said Assemblyman Fong. “My grandfather immigrated to America from China. My father came over from Hong Kong to become a pharmacist. They attained the American dream. Proposition 16 repeals that dream from our state constitution. The idea of non-discrimination and what it means is what makes America and California a beacon of hope and a land of opportunity for everyone.”
Jessica Patterson is a wife, mother, and the first female and first Latina Chairwoman in the history of the California Republican Party. She was also C.E.O., and co-founder, of California Trailblazers, an organization that recruits, trains and helps elect Republican candidates to state legislative offices.
“For the last 24-years our state constitution has said that 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 and public contracts,” said Patterson. “These words are critical. Proposition 16 eliminates those words. If you can give me a good reason as to why these words should be eliminated, I’d love to hear it.”
Lance Izumi is Senior Director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute. He has written and produced books, studies and films on a wide variety of education topics.
“In pushing for adoption of the U.S. Civil Rights Act in 1963, President John F. Kennedy told us that ‘we are confronted with a moral issue,’” said Izumi. “He went on to say that ‘every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish, a right to expect that the law will be fair, that the Constitution will be color blind.’ Proposition 16 turns back the clock of history to a time when Americans faced bitter racial preferences.”
Patterson says that Californians should be proud of a color and gender blind society that rewards hard work and sacrifice.
“If I am selected for a leadership position I want that selection based upon the fact that I’m the most qualified for it,” Patterson concluded. “I want to know that people value my opinion. I want to know that I belong there and that I earned my right to be there. I don’t want to be awarded a position or job because of my gender, ethnicity or age. That is the California Dream.”
About Parents and Students for Racial Equality
Parents and Students for Racial Equality is an organization that fights for the rights of all California citizens, regardless of race or color, and believes that government must judge all people equally, without discrimination.
