This is the time of year for helping the less fortunate, and that would include our friends in deep-blue California as they try to beat back their state legislature. And it won’t cost you a thing — just your signature on a petition. (If you yourself are in California, you’ll especially want to read this, but you don’t have to be a Californian to sign.)
It all started in 1996 when Californians adopted Prop 209, an initiative that amended the state constitution to say, “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.” Radical! It was common in the late 1990s to refer to Prop 209 — the campaign for which was chaired by our friend Ward Connerly and co-chaired by our friend Gail Heriot — as a “political earthquake.”
California legislators — and their woke allies everywhere supporting preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity, and sex — have been trying to get rid of Prop 209 ever since. Three years ago, they put Prop 16 on the ballot, which would have repealed Prop 209 outright. But the “No on 16” campaign was again victorious, with voters — California voters, mind you, in the year of George Floyd — overwhelmingly rejecting the repeal, even though the “Yes” side outspent the “No” side by more than 14 to 1.
But California legislators apparently haven’t learned their lesson, and they are trying again. The new effort — known as “ACA7,” for Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7 — is masquerading as just an “exception” to Prop 209. But as the petition explains, the exception will likely swallow the rule.
The hope is that, with a strong show of public disapproval beforehand, the California senate (ACA7 has already passed the Assembly) might be dissuaded. It’s worth a try since, if it passes there too, it will go on the ballot and require a much more massive effort to defeat. If you feel you can, please help out in this effort to stop it before it gets that far.