Abstract

Backing off Bakke: The new assault on affirmative action

Until last month, it seemed that the new assault on affirmative action, which began with the push to put the proposed California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) on the state's ballot this November, might never cross the Sierras. A year ago, with the polls showing wide support, even among women, CCRI looked like a certain winner, its influence evident beyond California. Governor Pete Wilson, a politician with a reputation as a shrewd diviner of wedge issues, had embraced it as a key part of his presidential campaign. But the political leaders of the CCRI campaign, Wilson and Sacramento Ward Connerly, encountered problems last winter getting the 700,000 signatures they needed to appear on the ballot-in the end, they were forced to pay commercial signature-gatherers premium prices for the job. The core of CCRI, is a simple sentence stating that no state or local agency in California may discriminate against; or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group oil the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting.