Opinion: Prop. 29 Campaign Did Not Appeal to Nonwhites
In a Capitol Weekly opinion piece, Jakada Imani -- executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights -- and Vien Truong -- director of Green Assets at The Greenlining Institute -- write that current vote counts suggest that "Proposition 29 has narrowly gone down to defeat," which can be blamed in part on supporters not promoting the measure to nonwhite individuals. They write, "Not only has California had a nonwhite majority for many years, but people of color are already saddled with higher levels of chronic disease and lower rates of health insurance coverage," making them "a natural constituency for Prop. 29." Imani and Truong credit tobacco companies with making "at least a token effort to target voters of color."
- "Fight for a Tobacco Tax Showed Lack of Common Sense" (Imani/Truong, Capitol Weekly, 6/13).