News from UCLA Black Alumni Association

Written by Bobby Grace

The recent op Ed piece entitled "Meritocracy at UC" (July 12) attempts to paint a false picture of how Prop 209 got enacted and its resulting effects.

The aforementioned title presupposes that UC admissions have been based on merit before and after the enactment of Proposition 209. Neither is the case.

The University of California (U.C) was created in 1868 to serve the all California students regardless of economic background or color. Given the customs of the day, that meant no students of color in 1868. The U.C. has proven to be one of the more egalitarian institutions in California boasting students like Ralph Bunche (Nobel Prize winner) in its' early years. Recent admissions figures show a dramatic disparity between African American enrollment at UC (about 4 percent) and the African American population in California (about 9 percent)

UC has historically admitted students 50 to 70 percent of its student body based on merit (grades and SAT scores). This means that between 30 and 50 percent of the student body prior to 1996 were admitted for other so called preferences. The most widely known preference is athletic achievement. This category allows major universities like UCLA and Berkeley to field powerful basketball and football teams year after year. Little known preferences include admission for those who are physically challenged, those who are musically gifted, student majoring in engineering and students that come from a low economic backgrounds. Prior to 1996 there were many students who were admitted under the "special admit" category who had family members who attended UC. Some students were admitted as "special admits" whose parents were wealthy donors and so and so forth. During the 96 campaign, the proponents of 209 made it seem that Latinos and African Americans were the only ones that were gaining admission to UC by preference which is simply not the case. The relevant question that the public should be asking is: What preferences for UC admission are now in vogue and what are the moral underpinnings for those preferences?

The other campaign tactic employed by the 209 proponents was convincing Californians that racial preference was no longer needed in UC admissions. They argued that there were no longer any barriers to Latino and African American achievement in society. The authors of this article and other proponents of proposition 209 pulled the wool over the state in 1996. They sold California voters on the argument that proposition 209 would serve to make California a color blind society and make government and education institutions truly egalitarian. In the process they were able to wipe out almost three decades of efforts to make higher education equal for all Californians. Affirmative Action was set up to address the inherent inequality in California schools and society. There were several conditions that existed in California that our legislature felt should be addressed. They included:

Inequality of Opportunity - the California Legislature and the Regents of California recognized that there was real inequality of opportunity between whites and minorities in California. This was shown by gap in income between whites and minorities and the higher rate of unemployment between whites and minorities in 1960's.

The proponents of 209 magically made all that inequality disappear for California voters. But here are the facts:

Segregation in California schools (the landmark Supreme Court case of Crawford vs. Board of Education stipulated that segregation was pervasive in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and that all California schools had a legal obligation to address the issue in their districts. LAUSD is the largest school district in the state of California and has the one of the largest population of African American and Latino students in the state. Ironically, LAUSD is more segregated than ever. A recent study found that inner city schools in Los Angeles were more segregated today than in the mid 1980's. This is consistent with the Harvard University Civil Rights Project finding that urban schools across the country are more segregated today than they were two decades ago.

Education: California has some of the worst standardized test scores in the nation for its K-12 students. We used to lead the nation. Scoring for African American students continues to lag behind their white and Asian counterparts. Less than 30 percent of African American students are proficient in math and reading. This includes all grade levels. African American students have the highest dropout rate for all ethnic minorities across the state. The ethnic group with the lowest percentage of graduates that met UC entrance requirements is African Americans. California African American students have lower SAT test scores than white and Asian students. SAT testing continues to be one of the main gate keepers of admission to the university. The authors of the article glossed over the fact that U.C enrollment of African American and Latinos continues to lag behind their general population number in the state with African American enrollment at 4.2 percent compared to 9.1 percentages in the state. The authors did mention that at the flagship campuses, Berkeley and UCLA, African American and Latino enrollment is far behind those figures prior to 209. What they failed to mention is that those two campuses are the "front porch" so to speak for what the world sees of the U.C. campuses. Hence the public outcry when the 2006 numbers for African American freshman enrolment became public. California citizens recognize that it's not good for any of us if there are whole sectors of our population are shut out of our University.

Opportunity: A recent student showed that the income gap between African Americans and whites quadrupled between 1984 and 2007. This is true for all income levels. The chances for success for racial minorities in this state is almost nil without a college degree. Yet California African American and Latinos students are graduating from high school at lower rate than in the 1960s. From health care, to housing, to income, Latinos and African Americans are statistically worse off than at the time Affirmative Action programs were initiated in the late 1960's. This again calls us to ask the question: What changes in society have taken place that prompted the passing of Prop 209

While voters are reconsidering many of the ballot initiative mistakes that have led California to ruin over the past thirty years, Proposition 209 is one misstep that should be corrected.