The Color Bind: California's Battle to End Affirmative Action (Hardcover)

by Lydia Chávez (Author) "The 1994 midterm elections represented the biggest loss for an incumbent president since 1946, when Harry Truman lost fifty-five Democratic seats..." (more)
Key Phrases: alternative initiative, state affirmative action programs, signature gatherers, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Feminist Majority (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Color Bind is an excellent report on Proposition 209, passed by California voters in 1996 to prevent the state government from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to people on the basis of their race. Although Berkeley journalism professor Lydia Chavez sympathizes with the liberal supporters of affirmative action, her reporting on the political campaign surrounding Proposition 209 is strikingly evenhanded. She reveals that the initiative's opponents often employed questionable tactics, such as when they paid David Duke to come to California in an attempt to link him with the effort to pass the law. She also makes clear that the authors of the initiative were inspired by good principles, even as cynical Republicans, including Bob Dole, tried to hijack the issue in the final weeks before the election. Anybody who has followed the political and legal issues swirling around Proposition 209--no matter what their political persuasion--will consider this a fascinating and useful book. --John J. Miller --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal
In 1992 two California academics, Glynn Custred and Thomas Wood, collaborated to write Proposition 209, an initiative that would end affirmative action programs in the state. Chavez narrates here the story behind the fight for Proposition 209, also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative. Republican Governor Pete Wilson and the California GOP supported the initiative, and Wilson believed he would use it as a vehicle to enter the 1992 presidential campaign. The Democrats remained quiet because they believed the issue would split the party and cost them the election. Chavez explores how the proponents won the fight and how the opposition was not able to find a cohesive or consistent voice. An intriguing look at backstage politics; recommended for large public and academic libraries.?Roseanne Castellino, Buffalo, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520206878
• ISBN-13: 978-0520206878
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,802,352 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An even-handed first-rate account of Prop 209, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Color Bind: The Campaign to End Affirmative Action (Paperback)

Although many books have been written about the pros and cons of affirmative action, The Color Bind by Lydia Chávez is the first to trace a state initiative to do away with preferences in state hiring. Focusing on the bellwether state of California, Chávez follows Proposition 209 from its origins in the San Francisco Bay area--it was the brainchild of two obscure academics-- through the 1996 election.

The journey is filled with enough dramatic moments, setbacks, and unpredictable turn-of-events on both sides to make the book read like a fast-paced novel. Chávez, an assistant professor at University of California-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, interviewed hundreds of sources in California, Washington, D. C. and elsewhere. We are privy to strategy sessions, fund-raising meetings, and internal debates on both sides. On the pro-side, state political heavies seized the initiative for their own purposes-- Pete Wilson for an ill-advised run for the U.S. presidency, California Board of Regents member Ward Connerly for exposure and political advancement. Connerly, who is black, became the poster boy for the pro-209 camp. The irony was perfect: an up-by-the bootstraps African American Republican in favor of doing away with affirmative action.

The effort to construct a cogent opposition fell apart amid turf battles that pitted feminists against civil rights advocates, northern California against southern California.

In a brilliant strategic coup, the pro-209 camp was successful in controlling the wording of the initiative, which Chávez singles out as a key to their success. Dan Lungren, then Republican attorney general (now failed California gubernatorial candidate) was responsible for the title and wording that went on the ballot--the sum total of what most voters would read about the initiative.

Though both sides agreed the initiative would end most of the state's affirmative action programs, the words "affirmative action" did not appear in the title or summary. Despite a law suit, Lungren prevailed, and the mom-and-apple-pie version made it illegal to "discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." Who could be against that?

The stealth wording confused voters. Grass roots workers in the wasteland of South Central Los Angeles found, to their dismay, that minorities in the area supported the initiative, until it was explained to them.

The Color Bind contains ample lessons for both sides of Prop 209--and not just about affirmative action, because, in the final analysis, the subject of the book is politics. In the 1998 midterm election, the Republicans, who ran ads reminding voters of Monica Lewinsky, would have done well to heed the mistake the Democrats made in the last days of the Prop 209 television advertising campaign. Though all polling indicated that voters responded to a more centrist, "mend it don't end it" strategy, the Democrats ran racial scare ads featuring Klu Klux Klanman David Duke. Voters were not swayed, and Prop 209 passed with 54.9 percent of the vote.

This even-handed account of the California initiative should appeal to people on both sides of the debate, as well as anyone who is fascinated by how individual personalities, in-fighting, and turf battles play out in the drama that is politics. Chávez understands that politics is people. That, ultimately, is what makes the book such a good read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and superbly written campaign book, November 11, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Color Bind: The Campaign to End Affirmative Action (Paperback)

Although there have been a ton of campaign books since Theodore White's Making of the President 1960, few have reached White's standard (even White's sequels grew tiresome) and none dealt with the referendum or initiative campaigns. Chavez' book does both. She has an eye and an ear for both the personalities and the drama of political campaigns. Not only is the book an entertaining read, it is also highly educational, an excellent study of the pitfalls of American "direct democracy." I highly recommend the book for the classroom or people who want to read the best of what American journalism has to offer.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and eye-opening, September 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Color Bind: The Campaign to End Affirmative Action (Paperback)

I used this book as a research tool for a report on Prop.209 and compare it to Washington states's Initiative 200. It had everything I was looking for. A great book.