Back in 1996, California voters approved Proposition 209, which prohibited the state from favoring people from certain groups in student admissions, employment, and contracting. Ever since, progressives who want to engage in discrimination (to achieve “social justice,” of course) have been trying to evade that prohibition and to wipe it from the law.

In 2020, California progressives mounted a massive effort to repeal Proposition 209, outspending their opponents by something like 15 to 1, and still lost, 57 percent to 43 percent. It ought to be crystal clear that even in deep-blue California, run by rabid leftists, racial preferences are not popular. But dedicated social engineers never give up.

Their latest gambit is new constitutional language (ACA 7) that would allow the governor to ignore the language of Prop. 209 if he can point to “research” showing that certain groups would benefit (by improved health or because it would “lift them out of poverty”). What that means, of course, is that the state would again indulge in racial preferences. Ginning up the needed “research” would be easy.

Another feature of this initiative is that it could help pave the way for reparations. The state’s big report on the reparations idea included a revealing statement: “More broadly, Prop. 209 is widely viewed as an impediment to the adoption of remedial measures. The chilling effect has been far-reaching.”

Fortunately, the California zealots can’t put this on the ballot until next year, so there is time for opponents to sound the alarm and again get the voters to stand up for fair treatment for each individual and against group favoritism.