Some Lessons From California

Alan Keyes, May 29, 1998

Perhaps the most striking thing that a contemporary reader of the writings of the American Founders notices is the confidence that the statesmen of that era were willing to place in the good judgment of the people. The American political system does have various checks in place to keep the momentary winds of passion from sweeping through the nation and knocking us off our feet But there is no escape from the fact that if our people finally lose either their character or their good judgment, nothing in law or government will be able to save us from our own folly. Here the Founders took their stand, and reasonably so.

We should be glad to see evidence that this confidence of the Founders continues to be reasonable. Californians have provided more than their share of it in the past decade, chiefly through the initiative process. Let's take a look at three key initiatives from the past four years that, taken together, are an encouraging sign that the people still intend to insist on taking the duty of principled self-government seriously. All three propositions were misinterpreted by the media; all were called partisan or racist. In fact, the racialists and partisans were on the other side, and the people voted for national unity, justice, and reason. Let's take a look and see how that's so.

Proposition 187 was a complex mixture of remedies, not all of them wise or constitutional, to the ills posed by the ineptitude of the federal government in enforcing its own immigration laws. It rested on the distinction between citizens and non-citizens. That meant that Californians took their membership in the American Republic seriously, and insisted that the national government do so too.

Citizenship is deeper and broader than race or ethnic group. In America, it means belonging to an order based on the truths of the national creed, the Declaration. The foes of prop 187 took children out of school to demonstrate on the streets of Los Angeles waving foreign flags. The citizens of California responded by passing the initiative. Who was the separatist, and who understood the bond of unity that is citizenship?

The American Creed was even more directly at stake in the California Civil Rights Initiative, proposition 209, which passed in 1996. Closely patterned after the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment, the initiative banned preferential treatment on the basis of sex or race. Extra points on exams for employment, lower standards for some and higher ones for others in college admissions, endless proliferation of favored groups in bureaucratic tally sheets, set-asides in contracts, all went out the window when 209 was upheld without comment by a unanimous Supreme Court last year.

It shouldn't have to be said, since it is so obvious, but the principle here is that all men are created equal. From that equality comes a natural right to be treated equally under the law. From slavery to Jim Crow, and with ugly spells of anti-Chinese and anti-Mexican legislation and prejudice, this country has often failed to live up to its creed. The victory of the California Civil Rights Initiative was a call to renew our efforts to do what in our hearts we know we should.

Next week the voters of California will cap their display of justice and wisdom by passing proposition 227, 'English for the Children' as it is called. Racialists in the government schools and in political interest groups have saddled California with a failing foreign language regime in the public schools. Bi-lingualism was supposed to move kids on to English, but it actually left them almost illiterate in both English and Spanish.

By the incompetence and ethnic separatist designs of the public authorities, in other words, these children are being cheated of their chance to share in the political life and prosperity of their country, both of which require a knowledge of the English language. Their own government is not only failing to secure their rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is putting barriers in their way.

That is why I believe that the parents of non-English speaking children will join the rest of the state to pass proposition 227.

There are points in each of these propositions that men of good will may find fault with. The courts have essentially struck down 187, and there are loopholes in 227 that will lead many principled conservatives to vote against it. But step back and look at the big picture. The huge and encouraging fact coming out of California lately is that we Americans do understand our heritage of citizenship, justice, and reason, and we're willing to tell the purveyors of division and resentment to grow up and rejoin America.

Alan Keyes is a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. His program can be heard via RealAudio at http://www.alankeyes.com.