Proposition 16 presents a new fight over affirmative action

Fundamentally, Proposition 16 is the latest skirmish in a decades-long conflict over the meaning of two words — affirmative action.
If passed — very doubtful, according to two recent polls — the measure would repeal 1996’s Proposition 209, which banned discrimination or preferences “on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.”
Proposition 209 advo