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There is a good list of ballot measures, with the actual wording, and the results at: www.news.aol.com/elections/2008/ballot
Some issues:
Unfortunately, in California, Proposition 8 passed, which says that the state constitution will define marriage as between a man and a woman. An article about that is: here. I believe that proponents of same-sex marriage believe they might be able to stop this in the courts.
In Colorado, there is a measure 46, an Anti-Affirmative Action proposal, which is so close, it has still not been called yet. It was made to be deceiving and it was. A YES vote would end any affirmative action programs for women and minorities. Though, on the surface, the measure sounded like it would stop discrimination. An article is here.
As previously stated here, a ballot measure in Massachusetts took away criminal penalties for small amounts of marijuana.
Filed under: Election 2008, News, Political Websites, US Politics Tagged: | ballot measures, california, Colorado, drugs, lgbt, marijuana, Referendum, Same-Sex Marriage, vote, voting
So you favor bigotry? That’s all Affirmative Action is. It was possibly at one point a necessary evil, but it time to move beyond preferential treatment based on race, gender, or any other similar factor.
Let me guess…you are a white man?
As a woman, I know that the cards are so stacked against me in terms of money and business, that a little extra consideration might just make things fair.
With regards to African-Americans, the cards are stacked even worse.
How about, if you are interested in justice, you get all the corporations and wealthy families that built their empires on slavery to figure out how to pay that money back. I don’t know…money to people who can trace their roots to slavery, or scholarships to college for black people?
How about, if you create more accountability measures, such as merit and civil service exams, that employers have to give applicants that could be some way to make sure that people are not just getting the job because they are white?
My fingers are crossed. I hope this measure fails.
And, I do hope there is a day when we do not need any affirmative action measures. But, we have a lot of work to do to make up for slavery, make education and housing and job opportunities fair, and allow people of diversity to participate in the largesse of our culture. When we get there, maybe we can drop the affirmative action. But, even then, the white men probably don’t need a special law to protect their interests.