In January, US Senator Ed Hernandez of California proposed an amendment to repeal part of California's Proposition 209, which, enacted in 1996, ended the long-standing state affirmative action programs in education, public employment and government contracting.

Affirmative action was a legislative solution introduced in the 1960s to counteract institutionalized discrimination. Although signed into law by president John F. Kennedy, it was actually enforced by president Richard Nixon, who regarded it as "an almost hopeless holding action at best" as he did not want "to have the goddamn country blow up" when riots were tearing many US cities apart.

Supporters of the SCA-5 amendment to the article relating to public education, which would allow colleges in California to employ affirmative action, argue that since Proposition 209 was passed, the decline in the enrollment of minority students at University of California schools-especially black students-has been dramatic.