“Say it isn’t so!” is the standard quip by comedian Chris Rock. Yes it is! State Controller Steve Westly, the double-digit leading Democratic candidate for Governor of California, stated that if he were elected Governor, “he would move to overturn Proposition 209,” which abolished affirmative action in state contracting, state employment and University of California admissions in 1996. “I support affirmative action. I have always supported affirmative action, even when I was the only white guy living in the African American student dormitory at Stanford,” he continued.

The remarks were made April 27, 2006 at the Black owned Powell’s Place in San Francisco as former San Francisco Supervisor President, Doris Ward presented Westly to the Black community. The San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, who supported Ward, vowed to give State Treasurer Phil Angelides, also a Democratic candidate for Governor, and Governor Schwarzenegger’s an opportunity to respond to the same question on affirmative action. Since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996, Black admissions to the University of California have plummeted and Black contractors have been eliminated in such large numbers, that a Black contractor today, anywhere in California, is an endangered species. Organizations, such as The Discrimination Research Center in Berkeley, have been documenting the impacts of Prop. 209 on minorities and women.

In response to a Prop. 209 type of Ballot Initiative in the State of Michigan with Ward Connerly, a Black man, continuing his efforts to ban affirmative action like he did in California, dozens of Michigan business leaders are co-chairing the coalition, One United Michigan, opposing such efforts. When affirmative action was being banned in California, only two companies and two public agencies came out publicly to oppose the banning of affirmative action. PG&E and World Savings, out of thousands of companies in California, along with EBMUD in Oakland and SMUD in Sacramento, publicly supported the retention of affirmative action.

Now, the coffin has been sealed on affirmative action on all government contracting in California. On May 1, 2006, Will Kempton, Director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), called my office to say that he was signing an order for Caltrans and all of its federally funded cities and agencies in the State to terminate the race conscious Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program. He cites that the mandate of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to provide evidence of discrimination in the transportation industry could not be substantiated until a Disparity Study has been done. “A consultant has already been selected to do a Disparity Study within a year. The State does not have to terminate its DBE program unless a completed Disparity Study shows otherwise,” states an angry Oren Seldstrom of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights.

Since Prop. 209 eliminated the State DBE program, white males do 95% of State funded contracting. Kempton proposes to implement a “race neutral” or volunteer program for minorities and women, which has never worked. Hogwash! The California program for the inclusion of minorities and women in government contracting is DEAD. “Say it isn’t so!”