Why Single Out Efforts to Achieve Racial Parity?

The San Diego Union Tribune has already begun its campaign to dampen efforts to repeal Proposition 209 (Prop. 209 works: Initiative exposed a mediocre K-12 system, November 29, 2006). The Union Tribune believes that Prop 209 exposed a mediocre K-12 system. We believe Prop 209 exposes the fact that we have a long way to go before Whites will truly value brown skin beyond what they can get in tanning booths and on athletic fields.

Some Supreme Court justices are sending clear signals that they are “concerned” about school plans that attempt to promote racial integration in public schools. And the well-paid foe of affirmative action, Ward Connerly, is toting the notion we can replace multi-racial diversity on college campuses with White diversity and all is fine. For Connerly, therefore, there is no need to be concerned about the ways Prop 209 decimated the enrollments of Blacks and Latinos in freshman class of the UC system because White students are diverse and that's good enough. And, the Union Tribune believes the voters have already decided the matter, so just move on.

Well, let’s move on. Let’s eliminate all preferences in higher education, including legacy preferences and preferences for the children of donors. Why focus on primarily shutting down the educational pipeline for Blacks and Latinos? And, let's also eliminate cronyistic practices that reduce funding for higher education for all students. The California Faculty Association has documented how the millions of dollars in state monies that make up the Chancellor’s perks to former administrators possible, could have funded entire campus programs that would have benefited underserved and other student populations. In one instance, CFA President opined that monies given to departing CSU officials “could have helped prevent $2.5 million in budget cuts planned for CSU Dominguez Hills. Curiously, Connerly and the Union Tribune are silent on such matters.

If we are really serious about equal access to higher education for all students, let’s increase state spending for K-16 and guarantee every student who graduates high school in California with a minimum GPA of 2.0 the choice of going to college-- community college, the CSU or the UC system. And, if we are truly concerned about societal needs, let's consider forgiving all student loans. By comparison to the billions a week spent on a misguided war in Iraq, the cost of such an initiative would surely be a better investment. Can we count on the support of Connerly and the Union Tribune for this, increased funding, and the elimination of all preferences?