UC Chief Opposes Campaign Vs. Race Data UC Chief Opposes Campaign Vs. Race Data
Tue May 13,12:35 PM ET
By MICHELLE LOCKE, Associated Press Writer
BERKELEY, Calif. - The president of the University of California is asking governors of the nine-campus system to take a stand against one of their own and oppose Ward Connerly's campaign to stop state and local agencies from collecting race data. Ê The request follows a decade of debate between Connerly---a UC regent who led successful efforts to block the use of race in UC admissions and dismantle many affirmative action programs in California--and UC administrators and faculty.
But it is exceptional in that this time, the UC president himself, Richard Atkinson, is going on the offensive. Connerly's initiative could "adversely affect the University's ability to carry out its core mission," according to the resolution Atkinson is putting before the Board of Regents on Thursday. Connerly's ballot measure, which goes before voters next March, could strike the "race box" from many government forms by forbidding state and local governments from classifying students, contractors or employees by race, ethnicity, color or national origin.
The measure exempts data collected for medical research, descriptions of prisoners or criminal suspects, and cases where the federal government requires that agencies report racial data. Proponents of the measure say identifying people by race is divisive, and the only way to achieve a colorblind society is to stop paying attention to color. Opponents say the information is crucial for research, for preventing or at least exposing discrimination, and for checking the progress of recruitment programs.
Connerly orchestrated the hard-fought 14-10 vote in 1995 by the regents to stop considering race and gender in UC admissions, then took the effort statewide the next year, overseeing the passage of Proposition 209, which dismantled many state affirmative action programs. The new measure, Connerly said, stems from his experience as a multiracial American--part white, part American Indian, part black--married to a white woman.
"It's always made me wonder: Why do my kids have to check one of these boxes?" he said. "I don't think we're going to get to the point where race really isn't important unless we start to take it out of the equation." An independent poll in April found that 48 percent of Californians supported the measure. However, many said they were not aware of it until the pollsters told them. UC officials warn the measure could cause problems in monitoring recruitment programs, defending against discrimination claims, and administering financial aid.
Connerly said he was disappointed but not surprised by UC's opposition. "Unfortunately, there's a race industry in America, people who have a vested interest in the categorization and division of people along the lines of race and ethnicity," he said. UC has "an institutional interest in the preservation of racial categories."
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