ATTENTION CALIFORNIANS!! If you oppose the effort to repeal Proposition 209, please voice your opposition directly to your California legislators. Some talented tech guys have made it a bit easier to send messages via email to those legislators. If you use this link, I am told your zip code will cause your message to be directed to the correct member of each house.  If for any reason that link fails, this link goes to all members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which needs to deal with the bill next.

If you’re in a hurry, the software contains a pre-programmed message that you can send. But it’s even better if you have time to write your own message. Short messages (such as “Vote NO on ACA-5.”) are just fine.

If you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, here’s the background: In 1996, California voters adopted Proposition 209. It amended the state constitution to read: “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.”  In other words, Prop 209 is a matter of simple justice: The state should not decide who gets a job, who gets contract, or who gets into the most competitive university based on the applicant’s race, sex or ethnicity.

The California Legislature wants to engineer a repeal of 209. To get rid of it, however, they need 2/3 majorities in both houses and a vote by the people. We’re trying to prevent any of that from coming to pass.

(Not a Californian? These days, that means lucky you. But if you have friends or relatives here who are likely to want to oppose ACA-5, please alert them. Also we are working on a way for ex-Californians as well as people have never been within 100 miles of California to email our legislators. The more the merrier.)