Student leaders and policy experts rallied to vote Yes on Proposition 16 which would restore affirmative action for students of color on Thursday via Zoom. The proposition will be on the ballot come November.
The purpose of Thursday’s student media briefing was to educate student reporters on the benefits of the proposition.
A majority vote for Proposition 16 would require affirmative action, the consideration of one’s race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, when admitting students and hiring employees.
Alexis Zaragoza, a University of California, Berkeley student and UC Student Regent, sees a lot of diversity in the streets of Oakland, but sees a lack of it on campus.
“A ban on affirmative action, on equal opportunity for all, runs counter to our California values of inclusion, diversity and fairness,” Zaragoza said.
She said she can see how UC Berkeley struggles to keep their Black student population above 2.5%, which in 2019 was above 3% according to UC Berkeley’s Office of Planning and Analysis.
In 1996, Proposition 209 was passed which amended California’s Constitution by banning affirmative action in schools, sparking protests across the state. Proposition 16 would repeal Proposition 209 if passed.
Since 1996, California has been one of nine states that banned affirmative action, according to a 2019 James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal article.
Like Zaragoza, other student speakers recounted their personal experiences with educational obstacles and explained how Proposition 16 would make a difference in people’s lives.
Katherine Squire, vice president of the California Community College Student Senate, said Proposition 16 will not only benefit students of color, but also women because it will make sure women are hired at the same rate as men.
“It’s a critical tool to fighting wage discrimination, which has set in place the wage gap we still face here,” Squire said.
Squire said that attending college alongside her single mother has showed her the struggles Latinx people face trying to thrive in education and throughout their entire lives.
According to an Aug. 21 article from the New York Times, “the measure in California seems to have set back a generation of Black and Hispanic students, pushing them down and out of the University of California system and helping to widen the racial wealth gap, with seemingly little offsetting benefits for other students.”
The campaign for Yes on Proposition 16 states that voters can decide whether to reinstate affirmative action in California schools, bringing more educational opportunities for people of color and women.
A UC Berkeley study published last month showed the effects of Proposition 209 on graduates' wages as alumni approach their early 30s.
The study showed Proposition 209 enabled an overall decline in earnings among underrepresented minorities by studying earnings over a period of 12-16 years after participants applied to various UC campuses .
In addition, the study concluded that underrepresented minorities “cascaded into lower-quality universities” as well as deterring otherwise qualified students away from competitive UC campuses.
Opposition group “Californians for Equal Rights” said voting yes on Proposition 16 would be a step backward, and that it allows discrimination based on race or color.
“We are on the verge of being controlled by color politics and I think that’s going to forever damage the state,” Ward Connerly, former UC Regent and proponent of Proposition 209, said on The Ben Shapiro Show Aug. 19.
The main objection to Proposition 16 made by Californians for Equal Rights is that it is discriminatory, creating preferences for certain races over others and therefore deviates from a merit-based system.
However, Cecilia Estolano, vice chair of the UC Board of Regents, said that the board conducts a comprehensive review of the candidate, taking into account 14 different factors such as particular talent, academic achievement in one’s high school and if the high school offered advanced placement courses.
“It’s incredibly competitive to get into any of our campuses, so we’re not lowering the bar for people of color . . . to get into university,” Estolano said over Zoom.
No racial quotas will be used to fill classes under Proposition 16 as it was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1978 in Regents of University of California v. Bakke.
In less than two months, Californians will know whether or not affirmative action has a place in the state’s future.
