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Recall
hopefuls have soared to nearly 250, but
many of us may not be considering other
issues that California will face in the
Oct.
7
recall election. While media coverage has
focussed on the prominent hopefuls such
as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Larry Flynt,
unequal attention has been given to proposed
measures, such as Proposition 54.
Prop.
54 also known as the "Racial Privacy
Act," was initially pushed to qualify
for the March 2004 presidential primary
ballot by University of California regent
Ward Connerly. However, the anti-Davis recall
has pressed the initiative on the recall
ballot.
The
aim of the initiative is to prohibit government
agencies from gathering race and ethnicity
data from California residents.
Supporters
of this measure argue could help lead the
state to become a more color-blind society.
The question is whether our society is ready
to do away with information on the diverse
groups within the state. In some respects
the measure has an overly optimistic perspective.
It would be great that we would be at a
point in history where injustices and institutional
racism did not exist, but the truth is that
they do exist. In a utopian society where
statistical information would actually be
useless and in fact, racist, the measure
would go well. Yet neither California, nor
the United States is at a point in which
we can afford to put the civil liberties
of under-represented groups at a loss.
Many
of us may not like to be viewed as just
a number, but it is crucial to realize that
numbers count. How else would information
be used to provide programs inclusive to
diverse ethnic groups such as breast cancer
in women of color? Measures are useful in
approximating what services could be provided
to improve the quality of life in local
and statewide regions.
Another
concern that arises if Prop. 54 were to
pass is the assessment and accountability
to hate crimes and racial profiling. Prop.
54 would make it more difficult for law
enforcement agencies to do their jobs in
halting hate crimes. In the same respect,
racial profiling may not be able to be tracked
from data obtained during traffic stops
in determining whether members of a certain
group may be specifically targeted.
As
university students, we must take the time
to read this and other measures so that
we are able to vote with an educated mindset
on the Oct. 7 election. Let's not just focus
on Hollywood hyped gubernatorial election.
Look at the laws that could be passed, before
we spend another year wishing we took a
stand on something that affects the state
on perhaps an even greater scale.
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