Top California News: Governor's Race or Proposition 54?

The upcoming vote for governor of California is dominating political news nowadays. It has totally overpowered the Democrats' primary campaign in which that party is trying to decide who they will nominate for president. It is even crowding liberal criticism of George W. Bush out of the headlines. And if anything is happening in Congress, it sure isn't getting much coverage by the media.

But ...there is another vote coming up that is getting practically no national coverage by the press that may have more impact on us here in Georgia than any of stuff being covered, and ironically it is another vote in California. California's Proposition 54, if passed, will prohibit that state government, and local governments within that state, from classifying people by race. Simply stated, government will not be able to ask if you are white, black, colored or whatever ... and the various governments will, therefore, not be able to calculate the percentages of white, black, colored or whatever in voting precincts, in schools, in the workforce or wherever.

The people promoting Proposition 54 say it is a necessary step in making the population "color blind." They say it will automatically do away with racial quotas, and will come nearer putting everybody on a level playing field than any of the laws or proposed laws we live with today. Liberal groups in California are rallying to oppose Prop 54, and are drawing support from liberals across the country.

The leader in support of proposition 54 in California is Ward Conerly, a conservative black businessman from Sacramento and a member of the Board of Regents at the University of California. While the news is being dominated by a host of names who want to be governor of California, it seems to me it may be more important for us to keep up with Ward Conerly and Proposition 54.

This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.