An effort to undo a California ban on racial discrimination is floundering.

Proposition 16 would excise from California’s constitution the 1996 ban on racial discrimination in public employment, contracting and education. Only a few months ago the stars seemed aligned for a “yes” vote: Its backers enjoy a massive advantage in fundraising and high-profile endorsements from California Democrats such as vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as support from teachers unions and professional sports teams. Even coronavirus contributed by helping the measure sail through the Legislature and onto the ballot without the more robust debate it might have received in normal times.

Meanwhile, the No on 16 campaign may be outgunned but it is long on energy and principle. Astoundingly for deep-blue California, it appears to be winning the argument. A Sept. 13 Public Policy Institute of California poll reports only 31% of likely voters saying they would vote for Proposition 16, while 47% would vote against it. That left 22% undecided.

So what explains the people’s resistance? Certainly much of it comes from California’s Asian-American community, some of whom have become politically active for the first time. But Asian-Americans account for only 15% or so of the state’s population. The Public Policy Institute of California poll suggests many non-Asians also have strong doubts about returning to race preferences in state decisions.

As dubious as Proposition 16 is on its face, it is especially noxious in California given the state’s history of anti-Asian bias. In the late 19th century the Golden State was an early champion of the Chinese Exclusion Act and passed other discriminatory legislation targeting Chinese workers.

At this time California was also home to the Workingmen’s Party, a labor organization whose leader was famous for his slogan “The Chinese must go.” And only this year did the California Assembly pass a resolution apologizing for its discrimination against Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Affirmative action, promoted in the name of diversity, is nowhere near as intentionally malicious as any of these historical anti-Asian efforts. But its effects are nasty and unfair. Just ask the family of the Chinese-American high-school grad who doesn’t get into a top university, for which she is more than qualified, because of her skin color. What could be a clearer example of “systemic racism”?

In the lack of tolerance for Asian-Americans asserting themselves, moreover, today’s progressives can be as indelicate as any 19th-century pol. According to Politico, after a newly awakened Asian-American community rallied in 2014 to beat back an earlier effort to repeal the constitution’s prohibition against racial preferences, California Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia told her Democratic caucus, “This makes me feel like I want to punch the next Asian person I see in the face.” Ms. Garcia, re-elected since her comments surfaced in 2018, is today a proud “yes” vote.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-anti-asian-proposition-11600729855?fbclid=IwAR3veZc7aRKZ71zRCblgtJT6taYniBjCmoIsbGUrtIcQQJ86nu2MQXsEbvs

Sometimes the people of California surprise me. They may actually stick to the policy of treating everyone the same regardless of their race.

perhaps some of it is white kick back at asians who have an attitude of wanting to separate their culture and blm is not helping matters.

inmyopinion wrote:perhaps some of it is white kick back at asians who have an attitude of wanting to separate their culture and blm is not helping matters.

Doubt it. Asians in the US outperform whites in school. They outperform everyone. When quotas are in place, they suffer.

I think it's not going to pass because even people in California realize that quotas based on race are the wrong way to go about fixing the problem. They just cause resentment.

Maddog wrote:

inmyopinion wrote:perhaps some of it is white kick back at asians who have an attitude of wanting to separate their culture and blm is not helping matters.

Doubt it. Asians in the US outperform whites in school. They outperform everyone. When quotas are in place, they suffer.

I think it's not going to pass because even people in California realize that quotas based on race are the wrong way to go about fixing the problem. They just cause resentment.

I've seen some of the media and the asians seem as demanding in the US as here, so I still think it could be the issue.

inmyopinion wrote:

Maddog wrote:

Doubt it. Asians in the US outperform whites in school. They outperform everyone. When quotas are in place, they suffer.

I think it's not going to pass because even people in California realize that quotas based on race are the wrong way to go about fixing the problem. They just cause resentment.

I've seen some of the media and the asians seem as demanding in the US as here, so I still think it could be the issue.

In the US, Asians are what we used to call orientals. Not Indians and Pakistanis like in the UK.

Maddog wrote:

inmyopinion wrote:

I've seen some of the media and the asians seem as demanding in the US as here, so I still think it could be the issue.

In the US, Asians are what we used to call orientals. Not Indians and Pakistanis like in the UK.

Oh ok, actually the orientals in the uk are very mind their own business people, just get on with it, don't ask to be treated differently just open a takeaway and carry on.