Washington
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Two years after Californians voted in favor of Proposition 209, the initiative was introduced in Washington State. Anti-affirmative action groups partnered with Ward Connerly to gather the signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot. Equal opportunity supporters came together to oppose the initiative, and presented a more unified organization and message than the opposition campaign in California. The ACLU also filed an unsuccessful lawsuit asking a court to change the ballot language. Unfortunately, the initiative passed in November 1998, supported by 58% of the voters.
In 2000, a controversy surrounding Seattle School District’s racial-tiebreaker policy began its journey through the court system, ultimately coming before the United States Supreme Court. In 2007, the Court released a decision striking down the policy in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1.
Washington News and Publications
Parents Involved
Schools Seek New Diversity Answers After Court Rejects Race as Tiebreaker—Seattle Post-Intelligencer—June 29, 2007
A Timeline of the Cases—The Seattle Times—December 5, 2006
Back to the Supreme Court: Racial Balance in Schools—The Christian Science Monitor—December 4, 2006
Initiative 200
Sumi Cho, Understanding White Women’s Ambivalence Towards Affirmative Action: Theorizing Political Accountability in Coalitions, 71 UMKC L. Rev. 399, 401 (2002).
A Look at I-200’s Impact—Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce—August 31, 2000
UW Law School Feels the Effects of I-200: African American Applications Down 41 Percent—Seattle Post-Intelligencer—March 16, 1999
Affirmative Action Rules Tossed Out by State Voters—Seattle Post-Intelligencer—November 4, 1998
In a Battle Over Preferences, Race and Gender Are at Odds—The New York Times—October 20, 1998
Initiative 200 a Bellweather for Movement—Seattle Post-Intelligencer—August 17, 1998
Initiative 200—What Do Voters Say? - The Seattle Times—July 13, 1998
I-200 Nets Signatures and a Controversy—Seattle Post-Intelligencer—December 31, 1997
