Race-related info may be collected, voters say

Proposition 54 fails, rejected by 57 percent of California voters

By Inga Lukaviciute

A controversial proposition that would have ended classification by race and ethnicity in California was headed for defeat late Tuesday night.

Proposition 54 was trailing at 57percent-44 percent in the state election at press time.

Proposition 54 is a bad policy because it does not promote a color blind society if it prohibits us from measuring the ethnicity of our population, said Larry Norton, secretary of Fresno Stonewall Democrats.

Proposition 54, also known as racial privacy initiative, prohibits state and local governments from collecting demographic data to classify current or prospective students, contractors or employees in public education or employment operations by race or ethnicity.

Out of 3,316,168 voters as of 12:01 a.m., 37.1 percent voted for Proposition 54 while 62.9 percent voted against it.

The supporters of Proposition 54 say they do not agree with labeling people according to their ethnicity and racial background without their knowledge. By accepting proposition 54 they hope to create a colorblind ideal of judging others by their character, rather than their skin color.

Miguel Aguilar, senior criminology major said he voted “yes” on Proposition 54.

“ I feel that there’s no reason why they [the government] should have our nationality. Why should our race be a concern anyway,” he asked.

Among those questioned the proposition did not seem too popular among the Fresno State community.

Couple of political science professors said they were against proposition 54. Not collecting data about race and ethnicity does not get rid of racism, said Melissa Michelson. It just covers it up, she said.

Michael Becker, political science professor at Fresno State said it is “important to keep track of progress or lack of progress in overcoming the effects of past discrimination.”

It is important to collect some of the racial information for keeping track of ethnic and racial trends, Becker said. This racial data can help launch campaigns to help specific ethnic groups, Becker added.

“ With the race date we’ve got some important statistics, like how many Latino, African American or Asian students come to Fresno State,” Samuel Arciniega, junior business major, said. Race is a part of our identification and who we are, Arciniega said.

George Looms with Californians for justice said it is important to know race information: “If we did have a color blind society that would be great, but we don’t so it’s crucial that we keep track of this information.”

A call to American Civil Rights Coalition, supporters of the proposition 54, office was not returned for comment.

Health organizations such as the American heart Association, American Cancer Society, California Medical Association, and the California Nurses Association oppose proposition 54, as a risk to the health community.