I’M PROUD TO BE ACCUSED OF BEING OFFENSIVE: A week or so ago, several of us from the “NO on Proposition 16” campaign attended a zoom meeting with members of the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle. We knew that the likelihood that they would come out on our side was zero. It’s the San Francisco Chronicle for goodness sake! Our goal was more modest—to show them that we don’t have horns and a forked tail.

We may have failed even in that. Yesterday, the Chronicle endorsed Prop 16, which, if passed, will repeal the following words from the state constitution: “The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, 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.” (See California’s Prop 209, passed in 1996.)

Here’s the part that gets me. In endorsing Prop 16, it pronounced our “mismatch” argument against it “offensive.” That’s so annoying.

Still, I view it as a backhanded endorsement. These days when someone cannot actually respond to an argument, they call it offensive in hopes that that the speaker will shut up.  That’s what they’re hoping we’ll do.  They’re going to be disappointed.

Loyal Instapundit readers has seen these links on mismatch before, but maybe some of you haven’t:

Want to Be a Doctor? A Scientist? An Engineer? An Affirmative Action Leg Up May Hurt Your Chances.

A Dubious Expediency: How Race Preferential Admissions on Campus Hurt Minority Students.

If you haven’t read the articles, you can get the flavor from the titles. But there is a mountain of highly sophisticated research behind the argument.  If you don’t believe me, read the articles.  In the end, it is either true or it’s false that “an affirmative action leg up” can hurt the chances of a student to enter a number high-prestige careers. That’s something the country needs to care about.

By the way, I spent the weekend updating “A Dubious Expediency” for an anthology that I am editing with my USD colleague Maimon Schwarzschild.  The book, which I hope will come out in a few months will also contain essays from Peter Kirsanow and Heather Mac Donald (among others).