Asian-Americans in California are in revolt against an attempt to reinstate affirmative action through a new statewide referendum.  Democrats in the California state legislature have been attempting to put such a referendum to voters, reionstating racial preferences which had been banned from all state institutions including the University of California and California State University Systems, ever since the passage of Proposition 209 in 1996. The ban has decreased black and Hispanic  enrollments in the most competitive institutions, while drastically increasing Asian-American enrollments, particularly at the flagship Berkeley and UCLA campuses. However, graduation rates for black and Hispanic students admitted have increased, reducing the tragedy of students admitted to schools they were ill-equipped to compete in, and dropping out before graduation. Katy Murphy and Jessica Calefati of the San Jose Mercury-News describe what has happened: A legislative push to...(Read Full Post)