I have discussed (here, here, and here) Washington state governor Gary Locke’s effort to repeal Initiative 200, which was passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1998 to ban racial preferences.
It now appears that his effort has failed because of opposition in the legislature. (Thanks again to Dave Huber)
A spokesman for the chairman of the state senate Judiciary Committee said the chairman “does not have the time this week, or any time in the near future, to discuss Senate Bill 6268.” The bill also will not receive a vote in the state House. Higher Education Committee chair Phyllis Guitierrez Kenney, who supported the governor’s effort, said she does not have enough votes.
Kenney said part of the reason the bill did not have enough support in her committee is because it is an election year, and amending an initiative dealing with affirmative action is tough to get behind. She suggested that next year a similar bill would have a better prospect.
Right. When nobody’s looking.
At the University of Washington Enrique Morales, assistant vice president in charge of outreach and recruitment, was disappointed.
According to Morales, the debate over the topics like affirmative action and diversity are prone to misunderstanding.
The issue “is divisive based on the ways it can be misunderstood,” said Morales. “I would like to hope that, while the bills may be dead, the discussions will continue.”
On the contrary, the more racial preferences are correctly understood, the more divisive they become. The only way to keep preferences from being divisive is to keep their nature and extent hidden.
