Free Republic

NEW YORK -- California voters Tuesday will pick a winner in the surrealistic pillow fight for the governor's office. They also may bring the ideal of colorblindness closer to reality.Proposition 54, the California Racial Privacy Initiative, occupies a quiet corner on the boisterous recall ballot. With limited exceptions, the initiative would forbid state and local governments from ethnically classifying residents for public education, employment or contracting.Although it has been overshadowed by the gubernatorial brawl, the initiative enjoys surprising support among the Golden State's minority voters.The 2003 Multilingual Survey of California Voters found that every ethnic group polled favors the initiative....

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights considered the following resolution at its September 12 meeting: Given the significant role that scientific and empirical data play in academic study and enforcement of civil rights, the Commission opposes efforts to ban the ability of government entities or public institutions to collect racial or ethnographic statistics.The measure seems relatively innocuous and reasonable. It passed by a 6-2 margin. I voted against it. I had several reasons for doing so, not the least of which was my concern that the resolution would be used in the propaganda battle involving California's Proposition 54 — the...

Likely voters in Tuesday's election oppose the measure, known as Proposition 54, by 54% to 31%, with 15% undecided, the poll found. The poll, which included 815 likely voters...Democratic respondents to the survey, conducted Sept. 25-29, strongly oppose the measure, by 71% to 13%, with independents also against it, 46% to 40%.

The Other Question -- A week from today Californians will settle the recall. And decide who has to deal with Proposition 54, the Racial Privacy Initiative. WHAT IF TIGER WOODS, frustrated by his inability of late to win one of golf's majors, enrolled at UC-Berkeley to finish the degree he started years ago at Stanford? Tiger would have to identify himself by race, and that would land him in the rough. Woods calls himself a "Cablanasian" (Caucasian, black, Native American, and Asian). But because his father is African American, that's how Berkeley would categorize him. If Tiger enrolled in California's...

Ward Connerly knows he's losing.For the first time since the University of California regent became the national crusader against racial preferences -- and the icon for contradictions in American race politics -- polls show his latest attempt at a colorblind society, Proposition 54, will probably go down Oct. 7.Connerly, 64, also knows his critics will spin the demise of his measure, which would ban the state from collecting racial and ethnic data, as a sign his influence is weakening.But to Connerly, it's not about wins or losses, rather the fight for what he calls true equality. Nothing from the opposition...

The link will allow you to watch a news segment from the LA area. We note the "huge" anti-54 rally that warranted dispatching a special event reporter and we applaud the very able and dedicated 54 spokesperson, Richard St Andrew for making himself available at a moment's notice on Sunday afternoon.After reaching the url: http://kcbs.dayport.com/launcher/970/Click on: "Crowd Gathers in Downtown LA to Rally Against Prop 54Be patient and listen for "Black Conservative Activist" Richard St. Andrew's SECOND SOUNDBYTE!!He's telling the real story, the real truth as to why such HUMONGOUS "medical" organizations are fighting Prop 54 -- but are using...

Responding to protests by Hispanic and Asian student groups, Dean of Students Sally Peterson shut down a bake sale that criticized affirmative action policies on Thursday, September 25. The bake sale, which the College Republicans at UCI held during the Welcome Week Club Carnival on Ring Road, charged higher prices for white customers.The bake sale offered Krispy Krème donuts to students at different prices depending on their race or nationality. The prices ranged from $1.00 to $.10 for whites, Asians, Hispanics, blacks, and Native Americans, with the prices varying for each gender within those groups.Peterson claimed that the bake sale...

California is a racist state.That's not my opinion. That's the implicit view of those who oppose a ballot measure that aims to end the odious practice in the Golden State of classifying people by their "race." Proposition 54 would forbid state and local government agencies in California from identifying individuals by their skin color for purposes of public education, public contracting, public employment and other government operations.Foes of the measure, from Jesse Jackson to Cruz Bustamante, fret that California's nonwhite population somehow will be irreparably harmed if it is approved by the voters.They insinuate that California's white population cannot be...

California State Senate, Senator Ross Johnson, Thirty-Fifth Senatorial DistrictSACRAMENTO - A Sacramento Superior Court Judge, who on Monday ruled that gubernatorial candidate Cruz Bustamante had accepted $3.8 million in illegal contributions, today ordered Bustamante to seek cancellation of media buys made with the illegally raised funds.The Judge had ordered the funds returned but Bustamante refused, claiming the money had been spent.“Apparently Mr. Bustamante pre-paid for television advertising through the election, but he has the ability to cancel that television time and receive refunds from the stations and then give the money back to his special interest contributors as ordered,” stressed...

Dear Friend,Who do Cruz Bustamante and the opponents of Proposition 54 think they are kidding?Do they think we are all idiots and will believe their lies that Proposition 54 will affect anyone’s health?All you have to do is read clause (f) of Proposition 54. It states: “Otherwise lawful classification of medical research subjects and patients shall be exempt from this section.”Last time I checked, cancer, AIDS, diabetes, and heart disease were all medical subjects.What is really behind this ridiculous opposition to Proposition 54 is an opposition to basic fairness. Those who want to defeat Proposition 54 still want to give...

Next month's state ballot measure to prohibit the government's collection of race-based data -- which opponents claim would be detrimental to minorities -- shows surprisingly strong support from Latinos, Asian-Americans and blacks, according to a multi-ethnic poll released Thursday. Results of the multilingual survey suggest that the message of opponents has not gotten out to the growing non-white electorate, a group that anti-Proposition 54 forces expected would naturally reject the measure.

<p>Proposition 54, which would restrict the state from collecting most racial and ethnic data, is leading among all ethnic groups -- and enjoys more support from people of color than whites, according to a poll released Thursday.</p> <p>The poll -- described by its authors as the most comprehensive survey of voters of color ever conducted in California -- showed that likely Latino voters back Proposition 54 by the greatest proportion, 46 percent to 33 percent.</p>

For the record:The press, I'm sure will bury a very important piece of this debate: Arianna's misrepresentation of CA's Prop 54.After her despicable lack of courtesy or professionalism in referring to the Racial Privacy Initiative as something it IS NOT -- Stan the Showman showed what a bad moderator he was through backing her up: He said she gave a "correct" description of CA's Prop 54.This is only another reason why Californian's are leaving CA -- media complicity with socialists and liberals.Revise, revamp, do it quick.The Moderator is NOT to infuse his own bias into his role. Stan the Man,...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- As candidates waited for a court hearing Monday that could decide the date of California's recall election, the leading Democrat to replace Gov. Gray Davis lost a court case that could cripple his ability to pay for his campaign.Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante had used his old campaign account for the 2002 election to raise money above the limits set by Proposition 34. But a Sacramento County judge said Bustamante's acceptance of more than $4 million from Indian tribes and labor unions into that account violated the constitutional amendment voters approved in 2000.Instead of using the money...

PROP 54 CAMPAIGN CHAIR WARD CONNERLY APPLAUDSSACRAMENTO, CALIF.--Thanks to state Senator Ross Johnson’s bold leadership, a ruling by a Sacramento County Superior Court judge today found Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante in violation of the Political Reform Act. Senator Johnson filed a lawsuit asserting that Bustamante was violating state campaign finance laws when the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) failed to assert its authority to enforce the law. Senator Johnson was vindicated today, as the Court found Bustamante guilty of the most blatant violation of the Political Reform Act in California history. Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Proposition 54...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEUNION THUGS SAVAGELY ATTACK COLLEGE KIDS AT A GRAY DAVIS SPEECH FOR SUPPORTING PROP 54, PROP 54 CAMPAIGN CHAIR WARD CONNERLY DECLARES IT AN ‘OUTRAGE’SACRAMENTO, CALIF.--Ward Connerly, chairman of the Yes on Proposition 54 campaign, angrily denounced the savage attack several men from an unidentified union and carrying “No on Prop 54” signs unleashed on six college students.The students, all members of the California College Republicans and in their early 20s, were peacefully protesting at a voter-registration rally held in south Los Angeles and featuring Governor Gray Davis and former Vice President Al Gore. The students stood respectfully...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT: Diane Schachterle (916) 444-2278 or ds@acri.orgFPPC FAILS TO MAKE ITS CASE FOR THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS COALITION TO DISCLOSE CONTRIBUTORSSACRAMENTO - The American Civil Rights Coalition (ACRC) is vindicated today as the FPPC is denied a preliminary injunction to force disclosure of contributors to ACRC. The judge’s order states: “Upon the record presented, the Court finds that the FPPC has not demonstrated a likelihood that it will ultimately prevail on the merits of the action. Further, the potential irreversible constitutional injury that could be occasioned to Defendants and their contributors by the compelled disclosure sought...

<p>The thought does not escape me that over the past decade or so I have been a pain in the rear to many liberals and, on occasion, to a few conservatives as well, all because I believe the American people should consider themselves one extended human family, undivided by "race," color, ethnicity, national ancestry, gender or sexual orientation.</p>

<p>Race Card Is the Sign of a Losing Hand. Opposition to Proposition 54 promotes a 'victim' culture.</p> <p>By Shelby Steele, Shelby Steele is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.</p> <p>The arguments against Proposition 54 — the state initiative that would spare Californians the indignity of declaring their race on state forms and applications — bring to mind the joke about the man driven to his roof by rising floodwaters. A rowboat comes to rescue him but he turns it down. "God will save me," he says. A helicopter and a speedboat come next but he turns them down as well. "God will save me," he keeps saying. Finally the waters overwhelm him and he drowns. When he gets to heaven, he is outraged. "God, why didn't you save me?" God glares down at him. "You fool, I sent two boats and a helicopter. What more do you want?"</p>

Bill to Seek Voters' Racial Data SignedMinority organizations back the law; county election officials oppose it. People will be able to volunteer information when they register.SACRAMENTO — California will join seven other states in gathering race and ethnicity data from voters under a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Gray Davis.Endorsed by minority organizations but opposed by county elections officials, the law requires that every voter registration form include a space where people can volunteer their race or ethnicity. People who leave the space blank can still register to vote.Californians may not see the forms for some time, because...