California Surrenders on Race Preferences
An end run around the Constitution won’t be on the November ballot.
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(2 min)
California Assemblyman Corey Jackson PHOTO: JASON ARMOND / LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA GETTY IMAGES
Good news in California, for once. Democrats have abandoned their attempt to add a loophole into the state constitution that would allow racial preferences. At least for now.
California became one of the first states to ban preferential treatment for race or sex in public jobs, contracts or education when it passed Proposition 209 in 1996. Democrats tried to repeal that proposition in 2000 with another ballot measure, but voters rejected it. Then in 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race preferences in college admissions are unconstitutional.
That didn’t stop Democrats, who have been pushing Assembly Constitutional Amendment 7, which would allow waivers to Prop 209. All a waiver would require is some academic research showing improved health, education, or economic outcomes for a specific demographic. It would have essentially gutted the ban on preferences.
