posted April 21, 2008 01:48 PM         

Proposition 54 was a proposition in the state of California on the
October 7, 2003, special election ballot. It failed to pass with
3,144,145 (36.1%) votes in favor and 5,541,314 (63.9%) against. It was
placed on the ballot through the initiative process. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_54_(2003)

Californians Sink Racial Privacy Initiative

California voters soundly rejected two ballot initiatives Tuesday
that would have banned the collection of racial information in public
education, contracting and employment and would have set aside a
portion of the budget for infrastructure repairs.

"We have this victory on Proposition 54," said Lt. Gov. Cruz
Bustamante, who lost the replacement portion of the ballot to Arnold
Schwarzenegger. "Californians rejected Proposition 54 because they
agreed we can’t afford to put our health and citizens at risk.
Californians rejected Prop. 54 because they believe that
discrimination is wrong in California. We must create a colorblind
society, but we can't do that by putting blinders on government."

The effort to enact Prop. 54 was led by Ward Connerly, a University of
California regent who in 1996 led the push for Proposition 209
(search), the successful campaign to ban racial preferences in California.

From the beginning, Connerly and his allies had trouble raising funds
for the effort. The initiative also suffered from low voter awareness.
Before the results were in, Connerly acknowledged the uphill battle,
quipping that Tuesday night's "victory party" would better be dubbed a
wake.

After the defeat, he added that he is waiting for the day to come
"when the American people will not be divided into racial categories."

"And we can look back on this period as the beginning of that
process," he told supporters in Sacramento as part of a concession speech.

Questions on ethnicity and race can be found on state forms to enroll
a child in public school, apply for a city or county job and conduct a
whole host of business with the state. State questionnaires ask not
only whether an individual is black, white, Hispanic or Asian, but
also whether he or she is Laotian, Guamanian or any other of the 16
classifications now used.

Connerly, who is of mixed race and dislikes being classified himself,
said last month, “We believe that the first step towards a color-blind
government is for the government to get out of the racial
bean-counting business.”

But opponents of Prop. 54 were concerned that by no longer collecting
statistics on race, it would be impossible to determine discrimination
in employment or college admissions. Another worry was that without
race statistics, evidence of medical trends, such as the increased
susceptibility of blacks to sickle cell anemia (search), would remain
mysteries.

Among those who fought against the measure were medical organizations,
such as the American Public Health Association (search), the
California Academy of Physicians, the California Black Health Network
and the California Medical Association.

"The fundamental issue is that if you don’t know the numbers, you
can't craft solutions for the problems," said Dr. Georges Benjamin,
executive director of APHA. He cited infant mortality in the
African-American community, which is much higher than among whites, as
a problem difficult to solve without gathering data.

Prop. 54 would have allowed racial classification for medical
research, but Benjamin called that provision insufficient. Collecting
data on voluntary research subjects would not protect the
data-collection systems that are currently used, which rely on much
larger sample groups.

Proponents of the initiative called this argument a “red herring” and
said the real issue was the preservation of racial preferences.

Proposition 54 was strongly rejected by whites as a group and
minorities who were expected to oppose it. It's only majority support
came from both men and women who identified themselves as
conservatives and/or Republicans, according to Fox News exit poll data.

Low voter awareness was blamed for the failure of the two initiatives,
which were expected to be included on the presidential primary ballot
next March. Instead, they were moved to Tuesday's ballot to
accommodate state laws that say qualifying initiatives must be
presented on the earliest ballot offered.

California's past dabblings in direct democracy have seen voters
revolt against taxes, bilingual education and affirmative action.
Often, precedents set in California find their way to other states.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99405,00.html

more stuff on proposition 54 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99405,00.html http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2003/09/03_p54.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_54_(2003) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3130094/

When I first heard about Proposition 54, I was thinking "Thank
God...It's about time".
I am tired of having to pick only one box on a form. I hate when
people gave me a hard time for picking multiple boxes that I relented
and marked down "black". I even hated picking "other" which made me
feel like a nonentity. I hate that my multiracial heritage can't be
acknowledged on forms. Therefore,I often let race box form blank. I
figured if I can't acknowledge my multiracial background, I won't
acknowledge any of my races. So it was a protest against the racial
nonsense. Heck...there is not even a multiple box choice for Myspace.
I am listed as Other for my race. You would think that in the
2000's,we would get beyond the one race choice crap. We are not.

When Proposition was rejected, I was very disappointed. I am sure that
many multiracial people were disappointed. We didn't want to be
classed under one race. We would rather not acknowledge any race and
transcend it. That's why a mixed race person came up with Proposition 54.

54 was defeated by a huge margin--64 to 36 percent. Three quarters of
blacks and Latinos voted against the proposition, as well as a
significant majority of whites.

Race does matter here in California as it still matters in USA.
That's what I learned and had to accept. In spite of all that,I still
mark down multiple boxes or none even though forms say to pick only
one. Laws can't make me nor other mixed race people fit in one box.

According to the 2005 ACS Estimates, California's population is 59.8%
White American, 6.2% Black or African American, 12.3% Asian American,
0.7% American Indian, 3.3% mixed, and the remaining 17.3% are of Some
other Race. 35.9% are Hispanic or Latino (of any race). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California

I am one of the 3.3 percent mixed people in California.

I am a strong believer in multiracial activism http://www.multiracial.com/site/

The Multiracial Activist (TMA) is a libertarian-oriented activist
journal covering social and civil liberties issues of interest to
individuals who perceive themselves to be biracial or multiracial. In
addition, interracial couples and families and transracial adoptees
are also constituencies covered. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Multiracial_Activist

I looked at the chart of the Proposition 54 ballot

October 7, 2003
Sacramento,California (used Sacramento because capitol of California)
noon.....didn't know time

Moon in Pisces square Pluto in Sagittarius - 2'22
feelings of transcending and breaking down of racial,cultural barriers
are in conflict with each other.

Mars in Pisces conjunct Uranus in Aquarius - 1'32
the drive to transcend and change,progression merge together

The dispositor of Moon and Mars in Pisces, Neptune is in Aquarius
which transcendental progression

Venus in Libra trine Uranus in Aquarius - 1'47
relating,equality in harmony with change,progression

Aquarius can be an interracial sign just like Sagittarius as its a
global,humanly love type of sign.

Saturn in Cancer oppose Chiron in Capricorn - '18
seems to have to do with rigid traditions that are at odds with
building a bridge between the races.
Magi calls challenging Saturn-Chiron aspects " THE HEARTBREAK CLASH"
Sun squares that opposition....so the issues of tradition,bridging are
highlighted

Pluto in Sagittarius trine Eris - 2'28 orb
Can indicate the breaking down races in ease with diversity.

Sun contraparallel Eris - '30
issues involving minorities,diversity are highlighted

Because I am interested in astronomy in Astrology because of my being
influenced by Philip Sedgwick, I also checked astronomical points like
the perigree,apogee and the perihelion/aphelion axis.

Apogee (the point of an object's orbit closest to the Earth)
Perigree (the point of an object's orbit farthest from the Earth)

Perihelion (the point of an object's orbit closest to the Sun)
Aphelion (the point of an object's orbit farthest from the Sun)

Sun in 14'05 Libra
Eris Perigree in 14'14 Libra
Eris Apogee in 14'14 Aries

Heliocentric chart
Earth in 14'05 Aries
Eris Perihelion/Aphelion in 14'14 Libra/Aries

Perigrees and Apogees are Geocentric.....they are usually not exactly
opposite each other
Perihelion and Aphelion of an object are always exactly opposite each
other as an actual axis like the lunar nodes.
The Perigree,Apogee and the Perihelion/Aphelion are axis are usually
not closely conjunct ....let alone exactly conjunct in this case

It's interesting that Sun is not only parallel Eris but also conjunct
its Perigree and oppose its Apogee. It is also interesting that the
Earth conjunct/oppose Eris' Perihelion/Aphelion axis.

This can indicate a strong emphasis on minority and diversity issues.

Raymond Andrews

posted April 21, 2008 10:46 PM         

I am the idealist in that I do want the whole races concept wiped out. I just want to be referred to as just an American and human
being just like you. There is just too much division in regards to race and it hurts many people including me. I hurt not just because I am being hurt but many others are being hurt. I am very affected by the pain of others. I
always wanted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Dream to be fully realized.

I just want to be considered a human being, an American. I don't want a racial label for me. As long as race matters here in USA, I prefer
to be referred to as multiracial,multiethnic,or mulatto. I don't believe in the one drop rule (I am part black,so I am part black)

I hope one day that the races concept gets completely wiped out we can just refer to ourselves as just Americans.

That's what I am about. That's what I have always been about. I try to stay true to myself.

I leave you with a poem that I wrote in 1997. This was before I got into Astrology and knew that I had Moon in Pisces square Neptune which has to do with unity,universal love. I expressed my belief for unity and universal love through my poem. It was published in my naval base(Diego Garcia)newspaper during Black History Month.

U N I T Y

Unity is our ultimate goal
for we are the same
underneath our skins
that come in many colors.
Remember our blood
is the same color.
So keep that in mind.
Don't throw away the dream
which is unity.
There are no separate races
for there is only one race,
and that is the Human Race.
We are all created equal
because we are all human beings,
and so we should unite
on our home planet, Earth.
In order for our world to survive,
we have to stop the violence
and eradicate the hate
which will ultimately destroy us all.
Eternal peace will only be achieved
through love and compassion
as we struggle to coexist.
We should love each other
for we are all related
and should be in unity.

posted April 22, 2008 09:42 AM         

I explained about my feelings about the need to get rid of the races concept
http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/017323.html