Rallies Held in Los Angeles, San Francisco To Oppose Passage of Racial Privacy Initiative
More than 100 educators, civil rights leaders, community advocates and lawmakers yesterday held a rally in Los Angeles in opposition to Proposition 54, the Los Angeles Times reports. A similar gathering took place in San Francisco (Trounson, Los Angeles Times, 8/8). The ballot measure, also known as the Racial Privacy Initiative, would prevent California government agencies and schools from collecting racial and ethnic data. University of California Regent Ward Connerly proposed the initiative, which would prohibit local governments from classifying students, contractors or employees by ethnicity, national origin or race. If approved, Proposition 54 would allow exemptions in instances involving some medical research data, convicted criminals or crime suspects and occasions in which the federal government requires racial data (California Healthline, 8/7). Speakers at both rallies urged the public to vote against the measure, saying that its passage would make diseases harder to track and treat, harm state anti-discrimination efforts and "undermine school reforms," the Times reports. The initiative will be voted upon at the same time as the statewide recall election Oct. 7 (Los Angeles Times, 8/8).
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