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PROGRAMS AT RISK
IF PROP 107 BECOMES LAW
Proposition 107 will
place barriers for women and people of color by eliminating
their support systems and resources that help qualified
women and people of color to compete and to succeed;
the same resources and support that white males have always
had and will continue to have regardless of the outcome on
Nov. 2nd.
There are countless
initiatives across the country that affirmatively use race
and gender to address the unwarranted obstacles women and
people of color encounter. Because these vital programs are
neither colorblind or genderblind, they are all put at risk
by attacks on equal opportunity.
The flawed premise by the
proponents that underlies Prop 107: It is possible to
eliminate race-based and gender-based programs and not hurt
women and people of color.
While race and gender are
only pieces of a larger world of “diversity,” eliminating
them from consideration ignores these important facets of
diversity. Ignoring real differences—for example in the way
that young girls are socialized about the legitimacy of
careers in science and math—is not a path to equality, but a
guarantee of continued inequalities. Proponents of the
anti-equal opportunity measure explain that the measure will
not eliminate programs for girls in science, but will simply
require those programs to be open to boys as well. In this
area, and in others targeted by equal opportunity outreach,
training and mentoring programs, gender-neutrality defeats
the very purpose of the programs, which is to acknowledge
and address the ways that girls and boys, (men and women)
are socialized to learn differently and the unique barriers
to opportunities that women and people of color encounter.[1]
Select expected impacts from
Proposition 107:
►Terminate programs designed
to encourage girls interested in math and science to pursue
careers in those fields.
►Eliminate programs and
scholarships which encourage people of color to enter
medical careers in underserved communities, or to become
K-12 teachers.
►Disallow notifications of
government contracting opportunities and dramatically reduce
contracts awarded to women-and minority-owned businesses.
►Prohibit recordkeeping and
data collection in education on the basis of gender and
race, eliminating evidence typically used to demonstrate
patterns and practices of discrimination.
►At risk: YWCA Bright
Futures Program. Bright Futures is a leadership
development, recognition and scholarship program for young
women in Pima County.
►At risk: The Summer Bridge
Program which helps Native American students prepare for the
academic challenges they face in college in science, math,
engineering and technology.
►Dramatically reduce the
admissions and graduation of women and people of color to
Arizona’s universities and community colleges.
►Governor’s Commission to
Prevent Violence against Women is at risk because this
program focuses on protecting women.
►Eliminates City of Phoenix
Teen Parents Program that helps teen mothers learn skills so
they can get off welfare and provide for their children.
►Eliminates Arizona State
University’s Hispanic Mother-Daughter Program. The program
recruits seventh-grade Hispanic girls who don’t have college
graduates in their families. The girls and their mothers
participate once a month in a class at ASU where they learn
study skills, test preparation and how to write personal
statements and apply for financial aid.
►Targeted scholarships,
fellowships and grants at all levels of education that take
gender and race into account.
►At risk: Diversity in state
boards.
►At risk: Voluntary K-12
school integration efforts.
►At risk: Battered women
shelters that create a safe space for victims of domestic
violence and their children.
► At risk: Gender-specific
community and public health programs, such as breast,
cervical and prostate cancer screenings, breastfeeding
promotions, or prenatal smoking cessation programs.
Public Programs in Arizona
with Racial Preferences (that would be affected by
Prop 107). Goldwater Institute, Policy brief,
December 4, 2007, by Clint Bolick, Director of the
Goldwater Institute Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional
Litigation; and John Robb, Ronald Reagan Fellow, Goldwater
Institute:
Arizona State University
– American Indian Support Services; Bridges to Biomedical
Careers Program; Minority Engineering Program;
African-American Men of Arizona state University; Community
Alliance for BlackStudent Support; Native American
Achievement Program; Underrepresented Graduate Enrichment
Match.
Northern Arizona
University – Minority Student Development Program;
Multicultural Student Center; Undergraduate Student Training
in Academic Research.
University of Arizona
– African American Student Affairs; Arizona Hispanic Center
of Excellence; Librarian Recruitment; Minority Access to
Research Career; Minority Health Disparities Research
Opportunities; Minority Scholarship German Studies; Minority
Student Recruitment; Minority Writing Program; McNair
Achievement Program; Native American Student Affairs;
Writing Skill Improvement Program.
K-12 Education – TUSD
Magnet School Governing Board Policy 5090; Office of Indian
Education; Revised State Plan for Highly Qualified Teachers.
Government Contracts
– Arizona Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program; Arizona
Steps Up; Minority-and Women-Owned BusinessProgram (Tucson);
State Procurement Office.
Employment – Arizona
Board of Regents’ Hiring Procedures; Maricopa County Policy:
Diversity Policy; NAU Affirmative Action Plan; Pima County
Equal Employment Opportunity Plan; University of Arizona
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office.[2]
WE CAN! United to Defeat
Prop 107
PO Box 17841, Tucson,
Arizona 85731
(520) 270-5390
www.defeataz107.org
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[1]
Melissa Hart, Associate Professor Law, University of
Colorado Law School. The State-by-State Assault
on Equal Opportunity, The Journal of the ACS
Issue Groups.
[2]
Policy brief, Goldwater Institute, No. 07-07/Dec. 4,
2007, Dividing Line: Racial Preferences in
Arizona.
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