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California has turned into a zoo.

With Gov. Gray Davis up for recall on Oct. 7, there have been a record number of candidates vying for the most powerful office in California. All this hoopla over who will be the next California governor, though, has taken attention away from a more pressing matter with potentially more severe and longer-lasting effects than results from one governor’s term in office. I am talking about CRECNO, Classification of Race, Ethnicity, Color, and National Origin, or Proposition 54, its official name on the Oct. 7 ballot.

This dangerous bill is the brainchild of our very own UC Regent Ward Connerly, who also was behind the ban on affirmative action in California. CRECNO will rid the state of its ability to collect data based on race, color, ethnicity and national origin.

Some trumpet this bill as the key to a color-blind society, but it will just make our society blind to the disparities that exist in health care, law enforcement, housing and education.

For healthcare, racial statistics provide us with information about diseases that are prevalent in different communities. Without these facts we would not know Vietnamese women have the highest rate of cervical cancer or that white women have the highest incidence of breast cancer. These racial statistics can help health agencies reach out to these target communities and make them aware of the risks they face while developing relevant materials such as language-translated materials. Why would we want to get rid of information that could save people’s lives?

If Proposition 54 passes, it could also limit our ability to keep government agencies accountable for racial profiling and diversity in education and the workplace. While we’d like to believe we are a progressive society that looks beyond race and color lines, racism and discrimination are problems that we still deal with today. Getting rid of the state’s ability to collect statistics will rid our ability to officially track hate crimes and discrimination.

Within Proposition 54, there are very narrowly defined exemptions for law enforcement, housing and health. Due to the nature of Proposition 54, these agencies would be allowed to collect some data on race, but this information would not be readily accessible to the public. Trends in discrimination or prejudice would therefore go unnoticed.

Proposition 54 naively assumes racism does not exist; therefore, we should stop collecting data on racial inequalities. It attempts to rid California of racism by pretending it’s not even there. Yet just because racism is not as blatant as in the days of the Jim Crow laws, that does not mean it has been fixed by legislation and legal codes. Information on race remains vital to protect our own livelihood and make sure we don’t take steps backward.

The UC regents and Chancellor Albert Carnesale have voted against this initiative and its dangers along with a long list of heath care, political, community and bar associations. Remember that the effects of Proposition 54, if passed, would hurt us for years to come.

Kwok is the outreach & publicity coordinator of the Asian Pacific Coalition; Hing is the community outreach coordinator of the APC.