BY JIM ALTENBERG
SAN FRANCISCO - California's governor, Pete Wilson, fired
another salvo against affirmative action by signing an
executive order June 1 abolishing some programs and limiting
others. The order prohibits preferential treatment based on
race or gender not required by law, changes hiring standards
in state government, and eliminates a state forestry program
that aimed to hire nearly 1,000 Black, Latino, and female
workers for summer fire fighting jobs.
Wilson surrounded himself with firefighters from the California Department of Forestry as he signed the order. The new edict also cut in half the money the highway department was required to spend with minority and women- owned contractors, and changed a number of state hiring goals to the detriment of women and oppressed nationalities. Many of the boards and policies eliminated were in place under executive orders signed by the three previous governors.
In a move that was also aimed at revitalizing his flagging presidential election campaign, Wilson issued an open letter to Californians a day before signing the order repeating the demagogic claims that affirmative action is divisive and discriminatory.
"Almost every American can sense the tension and unfairness this system of racial spoils has produced," he wrote. "[Affirmative action] is not recognition of individual merit. It pits group against group, race against race, eroding the American ideal that anyone who works hard and plays by the rules has an equal chance to achieve the American dream.
"The current system of special privilege based on race and gender is breeding resentment from those left standing on the sidelines," Wilson said.
The scope of his executive order was limited because many affirmative action programs in place are required by state and federal laws, and cannot be ended by order of the governor. His moves are part of a nationwide drive against affirmative action gains that has been echoed with particular force in California.
Opponents of affirmative action plan a petition drive to place the so-called California Civil Rights Initiative, which would "eliminate race and gender preferences in government hiring, education and contracting," on the November 1996 ballot. Wilson supports passage of the proposal.
College campuses have been the focus of much of the debate on affirmative action and Wilson's letter urged California universities to do away with affirmative action in hiring and adopt a so-called merit based system. Administrators at the University of California and California State University systems have undertaken reviews of their affirmative action policies.
The Board of Regents of the University of California will soon discuss a proposal by Regent Ward Connerly to end current affirmative action programs in university admissions and hiring. Connerly, who is Black, has said that minority admissions policies lowered academic standards and were an insult to qualified students of color. Protest actions in defense of affirmative action have taken place on campuses throughout California.