Affirmative Action on the Ropes

It is called the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), and if enacted, it would end affirmative action in California. The state and its subdivisions would be prohibited from using race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin to discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group.

The result would be no set-asides for minority contractors, no special admissions programs for colleges, no race-based hiring in government jobs. In a state in which an esti...