Most of us know that in 2003 Ward Connerly succeeded in his effort to eliminate racial and gender preferences at the University of California.  Since that time, according to Jeffrey S. Lehman, an affiliate of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former president of Cornell University, African American enrollment on campuses such as Berkeley and UCLA is only 2-4 percent.

In 2006 the anti-affirmative action crusader succeeded again when  Michigan  voters passed the “Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.”

For the 2008 elections, Connerly headed a campaign that he called "Super Tuesday for Equal Rights" that aimed to dismantle affirmative action programs in five different states via ballot measures. In three of the states, Connerly's measures failed to make it onto the ballot, and in Colorado voters rejected Amendment 46 (or the Colorado Civil Rights Initiative) by a very slim margin. Voters in Nebraska were the only ones to approve a new anti-affirmative action measure, called Initiative 424.

Connerly has again taken his crusade to Arizona.  (It failed the last time.) This comes on top of the House Bill 1070 debacle that has turned Arizona into the nation’s “boycott state.”  During the 2010 legislative session, conservative legislators passed House Concurrent Resolution 2019, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer, adding the issue of civil rights on the ballot for the November 2010 election.  The wording of the initiative is such that many voters will think that a “yes” vote support supports non-discrimination --

“This state shall not grant preferential treatment to or discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”

Arizona women’s and people of color organizations are partnering to make sure the initiative fails during the fall election. If it passes, the initiative will eliminate state contracting policies that support minority and women-owned small businesses.  It will eliminate state-supported programs in schools, colleges and universities such as women’s studies, Mexican American/Latino studies, African American studies, Native American studies, and preparatory programs for underprivileged young people of color to enter colleges, etc.   It will eliminate state support for gender specific programs that support victims of domestic violence, teen parents, health centers, etc.  In short, if it passes, the initiative will be disastrous for the state, and potentially or other states that could follow suit.  I currently chair the Pima County/Tucson Women’s Commission, which this week voted to publicly act against the initiative.

Medical Care activists should keep alert for November’s election results.  This well-funded political trend may eventually come to your states if it has not already done so.  An ACLU’s lawsuit threat stopped the initiative in Missouri this past May.  Contact your state’s ACLU chapter for further information, and get involved.