In case it was not obvious, the slight wording
shift in the two--the difference between
protecting groups from discrimination and
protecting individuals from discrimination--made
all the difference in the level of corporate
support. -EY
After California voters passed Proposition 209
[*group rights*], for example — a referendum
outlawing racial and gender preferences in
employment — Ward Connerly, the African-American
businessman who led the effort, launched a similar
antipreferences initiative in the state of
Washington. The Washington initiative I-200 read
as follows: "The State shall not 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, or public
contracting." [*individual rights*] This language
was almost identical to California’s Proposition
209. Atlantic Monthly editor Michael Kelly
reported in the Washington Post on August 23 that
when asked his opinion on Proposition 209 during
the referendum debate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman
replied, "I can’t see how I could be opposed to
it. . . . It is basically a statement of American
values . . . and says we shouldn’t discriminate in
favor of somebody based on the group they represent."
However, Washington’s business leaders disagreed.
In his autobiography Creating Equal, Ward Connerly
wrote that the "most important significant
obstacle we faced in Washington was not the media,
or even political personalities, but the corporate
world. . . . Boeing, Weyerhauser, Starbucks,
Costco, and Eddie Bauer all made huge donations to
the No on I-200 campaign. . . . The fundraising
was spearheaded by Bill Gates, Sr., a regent of
the University of Washington, whose famous name
seemed to suggest that the whole of the high-tech
world was solemnly shaking its head at us."
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