FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Burlingame -- Praising the voters of California for taking the time to learn about the potential impacts of Proposition 54 and going to the polls to resoundingly defeat it, opponents of the initiative this week also warned the measure's author, Ward Connerly, that efforts to reintroduce the initiative would meet a similar fate.
“We look forward to the day when race, ethnicity and national origin are not used as tools for discrimination, but Proposition 54 was not the answer,” said Barbara Kerr, president of the 335,000-member California Teachers Association. “Defeating this initiative will help the state to ensure that all students and schools get the resources they need to succeed. This is a victory for all Californians,” Kerr said.
Eva Paterson, the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Society, thanked the voters for defeating the measure. "I am gratified that the people of California saw through this transparent attempt to blindfold us to racial discrimination and disparities. Clearly they agree that we need data and statistics to track when and where discrimination happens ~ from the occurrence of illness and disease, to the existence of racial profiling and race-related hate crimes ~ in order to take the necessary steps to prevent it. Proposition 54 would have blocked us from access to vital information and so would have blocked progress to reach a truly discrimination-free society. This is really a great day for California."
"This was a complex initiative that was vaguely written and certainly confusing," said Los Angeles City Councilmember Antonio Villaraigosa. "Yet, in a very short period of time, the voters of California did their homework and made informed decisions to oppose it at the ballot box. This election is a clear mandate that this brand of divisive politics by initiative doesn't work in this state anymore. Anyone who thinks they will be successful in any attempt to bring Prop. 54 back to life must be tone deaf, because the voters shouted this down yesterday in no uncertain terms."
Connerly has indicated that he will author another measure similar to Proposition 54, which would be the third racially divisive statewide measure spearheaded by him. Over the past four years, it has been reported that he earned over $2 million in association with his campaigns, which have clearly been profitable endeavors for him.
The Coalition for an Informed California is the umbrella organization formed specifically to defeat the initiative two years ago. It is made up of hundreds of individuals, grassroots organizations, professional associations, elected officials, doctors, medical researchers, teachers, sheriffs and police chiefs and others representing diverse constituencies throughout California.