Proposition 209 creates new social
turbulence
By LESLIE WIRPSA
NCR Staff Los Angeles
Recent passage of California's initiative against affirmative
action, Proposition 209, has provoked a barrage of responses all the way from
Los Angeles archdiocesan offices to the White House steps.
The controversial measure to abolish state affirmative action
programs eliminates consideration of race and gender as criterion in
contracting, promoting and hiring in state institutions. Supported by
California Gov. Pete Wilson and Republican candidate Bob Dole, Proposition 209
passed in the Nov. 4 elections by a margin of 54 to 46 percent.
But its implementation was immediately countered by the filing of
four separate suits in local courts.
Simultaneously, Clinton administration officials, prompted by the
Rev. Jesse Jackson, discussed the possibility of presenting joint or separate
legal challenges at the federal level.
Tom Chabolla, head of the Los Angeles archdiocesan Office for
Justice and Peace, said the initiative, euphemistically pegged as the
"California Civil Rights Initiative" on the state ballot, only "emphasizes the
divides there are in our community." Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony had
vehemently opposed Proposition 209, and churches throughout the diocese waged
educational campaigns on the initiative and other electoral issues.
Chabolla criticized the deceptive way the initiative was presented
to voters. "Probably there were many people who voted for it who didn't know
they were voting to abolish affirmative action," he said. Prior to the
elections, members of Martin Luther King Jr.'s family protested the use of the
slain civil rights leader's ideas in advertising that favored passage.
Fernando J. Guerra, an associate professor of political science
who directs the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at the Jesuit-run Loyola
Marymount university, said the "Machiavellian" use of measures like Proposition
209 by politicians for "short-term campaign goals" had brought an interesting
response from both the church and the Latino community. "In the long run, (the
politicians) have mobilized the Latino community really against the Republican
Party," Guerra said.
Guerra pointed out that there has been a "tremendous movement of
Latinos toward the Democratic Party," largely because of backlash policies.
"You even have Cubans in Florida voting for (the Democrats)," he said.
People "used to talk about the potential Latino vote and political
clout," Guerra said. In 1994 -- the year California Republicans rallied support
to pass the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 -- and now in 1996 with Proposition
209, the Latino clout has become a reality.
"Latinos were seven percent of the state-wide vote in 1992,
according to Los Angeles Times exit polls. In 1994, they were eight
percent. In 1996, they were ten percent," Guerra said.
Their increasing political strength is evident in the state
assembly, he said. Latino legislators now number 14 out of 80, compared to
three out of 80 in 1990."
In this context of the rising importance of Latinos on the
national scene, Guerra said the "Catholic church is in the same position as the
Democratic Party. It wants to mobilize the 'Latino vote,' because it realizes
Latinos are a larger and larger part of its constituency."
In Southern California, with a historically traditional and
conservative Anglo population, this presents a delicate dilemma for the church.
"How can it respond to the needs of the Latinos and incorporate their interests
while at the same time meeting the needs of those who are already 'in' -- white
Catholics?" Guerra queried.
To do this, Guerra said church leaders must "speak in code" to
support Latino issues but avoid offending others. "This is a fine line, but
they are capable of doing it, especially with the outlets they have."
One outlet, Guerra said, is the archdiocesan, grassroots,
Spanish-language biweekly newspaper, Vida Nueva, a "medium white
Catholics are not even aware of." The second vehicle? "They have the beautiful
code of the Catholic teachings," Guerra said.
Guerra said the Catholic church is a "very important spoke" in the
wheel turning in defense of the immigrant poor and of ethnic and racial
equality in California. The church confirmed and reinforced messages supporting
affirmative action, he said, and "it further legitimized this message in the
Latino community."
The message from the pulpit is less likely to persuade white
Catholics, Guerra said. "It is clear to me that white Catholics are not
responsive to the church in the conventional electoral arena. Although the
Catholic bishops came out against Propositions 187 and 209, data shows that
white Catholics voted the same as the general electorate" in supporting the
measures, he said.
For most Latinos, political mobilization, community involvement
and church involvement are "one and the same," he said, but for whites, there
is more separation of church and state in the electoral arena.
"There's kind of this feeling that, let's not follow lockstep what
the bishops say, like the religious right," even though bishops in California
are "on the left," Guerra said.
National Catholic Reporter, November 22,
1996
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