Affiliated Members of NAVASA

Racial Privacy Initiative
(California)

California’s Ward Connerly, the UC Regent appointed by Governor Pete Wilson, has introduced an initiative, "The Racial Privacy Initiative," which is intended to ensure the privacy of ethnic minorities. The initiative, if passed, would make it unlawful in California to classify or impute any individual by race, ethnicity, color, or national origin. However, it may end up harming the minorities it is intended to protect. The reason for this is that the initiative would damage the state’s ability to address disparities by race or ethnicity in healthcare and disease patterns, educational resources and academic achievement, and hate crime and discrimination.

The Coalition for an Informed California lists six major areas that would be adversely affected by the initiative:

1)Tobacco and Other Prevention Programs

Racial and ethnic groups experience differences in treatment, have different rates of risk behaviors, and respond to different prevention methods and messages.

2)Racial Profiling

Makes it impossible to track racial profiling

3)Hate Crime Laws

Would prevent public agencies from tracking race based hate crimes

4)Civil Rights Protections

CA would not keep track of discrimination based on race and ethnicity

5)Spread of Disease

Health conditions affect us differently depending on race or ethnicity

6)School Accountability

Undermines CA’s Public School Accountability Program, which holds standards for improvements for students of different races.