The purpose of affirmative action is to establish fair access to employment opportunities that can reflect the demographics. The policies and programs will create a workforce that hires and promotes qualified women, the disabled, and minorities. The State of California voters have rejected affirmative action according to Politico on Nov. 18, 2020.
Following the killing of George Floyd by police, many riots and protests arose in States around the United States. After numerous people protested and activists speaking out about creating social equality the state voters rejected Affirmative Action. For at least 50 years, Californians have fought for their government to be race-neutral.
This will allow individuals to be treated equally under the law regardless of their race. After voters defeated Proposition 16, there was an attempt to remove the provision in the state constitution that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender or race in public employment, education, and contracting. Roughly 56 to 44 percent defeat margin, shows that race neutrality is more popular now than when it was first mandated by the 1996 ballot that passed by a smaller margin.
The State battled over racial equality first emerged at the University of California’s Davis Medical school. The school was founded in 1966. The classes at the school were almost all white. In 1970 they decided to diversify the student body, the administrations increased their class size to 100 students each year with 16 spots reserved for minority applicants. In the 1978 case, Regents of the University of California versus Bakke, the supreme court ruled that racial quotas were unconstitutional.
Written by Jessica Letcher
Edited by Sheena Robertson
Sources:
The Atlantic: Why California Rejected Racial Preferences, Again; by Conor Friedersdorf
Politico: California voters reject affirmative action measure despite summer of activism; By Alexander Nieves
AP: Politically liberal California rejects affirmative action; by Janie Har
Featured and Image Courtesy of Becky Matsubara’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of HarshLight’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
