Race Initiative Is Not What It Seems

July 31, 2003 by Maya Harris, San Jose Mercury News

Now that the Connerly initiative is upon us, it's time we start calling it like it is. For starters, there's no ``Racial Privacy Initiative.'' That ballot designation was rejected because this has nothing to do with privacy. Instead, what voters will see on the ballot is `Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color or National Origin.''

Proponents want voters to believe this will get rid of those ``annoying check boxes'' on government forms and achieve a colorblind society. Yet, this initiative will make all of us blind to information that protects our health, safety and civil rights.

If this initiative passes, it will eliminate data showing that white women have the highest incidence of breast cancer while black women are more likely to die from it -- information essential to effectively targeting precious prevention and treatment resources. That's why health organizations oppose it.

The state could no longer require data collection that documented anti-Arab hate crimes after Sept. 11, which prompted immediate law enforcement and community response. State Attorney General Bill Lockyer has also opposed the ballot measure.

Maya Harris, Director, ACLU-NC Racial Justice Project.