| September 2003: NO on Prop 54 |
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Vote No on Proposition 54
Healthcare for kids, for families, for seniors, and for our communities requires a commitment not just to individual care, but to the science that helps us track, understand, prevent and respond to disease. We use health data on race and ethnicity to understand who is most affected by certain diseases and health threats, to create prevention programs tailored to different communities and cultures, and to determine when our medical system fails to reach and treat a particular community.
| Personal |
I've been talking as much as possible lately about the sadly-little-known-about initiative on the gubernatorial recall ballot on October 7. Everyone's talking about the recall and Arnold and all this and that, but the real, stealth threat lying under the radar of the recall is the statewide intiative, Proposition 54, which will destroy our public health and education systems and propel California in the wrong direction for decades to come. So, here, now, I dedicate my site and my Issue of the Month to the fight against Proposition 54. Please inform yourself more about the issue and check out the resources and articles I list below. Also, directly below this paragraph are my personal thoughts on the issue:
It may seem simple and easy to say that we are or must become a "color-blind" society. The first problem is that we are not. The second, and most important problem, is that when we talk about race/ethnicity/background/orientation/gender/etc. there is an important difference in the verbage used and ideas behind fighting for equal treatment and saying things like "we are all the same." That difference is the social aspect. Biologically we're all pretty much the same. Socially, HOWEVER, we all grow up in different worlds-- often based in part upon our race/ethnicity/background/orientation/gender/etc. Those different social worlds effect our chances for education, health care, opportunities, as well as our likelihood for diseases, peer pressures, drug abuse, etc. This doesn't mean to say that anyone's race/etc. is "better" or "suited" for a specific direction. This doesn't mean to say that anyone's race/etc. defines who they are or will be. This does, however, mean to say that there are trends and patterns, based on sociological factors (not physical ones), that can show up among groups. These trends and patterns can then be analyzed. And it's imperative that we analyze these sociological phenomena in order to make our government and public policy work properly.
Let me give you an example. Say, for instance, that we have studied a public health disease (like tuberculosis) and we recognize that the majority of cases for tuberculosis are occuring within the Chinese-American community (just as an example; not based on any data necessarily). This doesn't mean to say that Chinese people are more likely to get tuberculosis, or that based on genetics that they will definitely get TB. This means to say that within the Chinese-American community there is a higher rate for tuberculosis among certain social areas wherein they live. What this information tells us is incredibly important in fighting tuberculosis because then public health officials can specifically target education/information campaigns within the Chinese-American community, print TB-testing information in Chinese, hire Chinese-speaking nurses and outreach workers, and so forth all in the strategic and important fight against a disease that has the possibility of spreading throughout the population. If we are able to address one community's specific concern-- we are all better for it.
Let me give you another example. Say, for instance, we collect data on the number of traffic tickets police officers are giving motorists and find out that, based upon population statistics, there is a much-greater possibility that a ticket will be handed out to an African-American motorist than a White motorist. Does this mean to say that black drivers are worse than white ones? Or does this tell us that police officers may be specifically targeting black neighborhoods or black motorists and not targeting white neighborhoods or perhaps letting white people "get away with it this time with a warning." (Again, this is just an example.) If we collect information, scientific data, along these lines we are able to address an issue that a community feels anecdotally but can't prove. If we find out that the anecdotes give way to a statistical issue, then we can learn from that and address those concerns within the public policy context-- strategic meetings with police officers and community groups, neighborhood watches/patrols, etc.
Proposition 54 will end all collection of data on race/etc. within the state. If we can't know what is happening, how can we address the needs of our populations? Again, humans are the same physically. But we can be and are positively different in many ways. Our diversity is a good thing and is so powerful and useful in making our country great. Difference among populations and peoples provides further opportunities to grow and learn and see. Otherwise we'd all end up being stepford wives or pods from the body snatchers. We thrive on difference.
Our fight for equality and equal rights is not about destroying difference. Our fight for equality and equal rights is about recognizing and honoring everyone's fundamental humanity, our physical similarity, and our individual uniqueness while at the same time accepting and respecting our social differences.
Proposition 54 will rob us of that equality. Proposition 54 will damage our public health, our safety, our education, our communities. Proposition 54 must be defeated on October 7, 2003.
| Political |
Easy things you can do to fight Prop 54:
1) Register to Vote and make sure all your friends and family are registered too.
2) Spread the Word about Prop 54: tell your friends, family, community members, write letters to the editor of your local paper, discuss the issue at town hall meetings, bring it up with public officials and candidates, etc. Make sure everyone knows about this dangerous proposition on the October 7th ballot.
3) Support the Coalition for an Informed California
4) Vote No on Proposition 54 on October 7, 2003.
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Early this month, I pulled up my old email list from my last position with the tuberculosis people. This was a list of public health workers and others in the health care field throughout the state of California. And I sent them this message:
Dear Friends,
As is well-known, we have a special gubernatorial recall election on October 7, 2003. What may not be well-known, however, is that along with the questions on the ballot about the governor and others vying for his job, there is a statewide initiative-- Proposition 54-- which is also on the October 7 ballot. This proposition is dangerous and 'bad medicine for California.'
Proposition 54 is sponsored by Ward Connerly and was named by him as the "Racial Privacy Initiative," but officially on the ballot as the "Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin (CRECNO) Initiative." It can also be called the "Information Ban" for it will strip us of vital information in California for our public health care and education systems and the very welfare of our people.
As many of you know who work within the health care field, demographic data provide us vital clues on the impact, trends, incidence, and future direction of various diseases and health issues. We use this information to base targeted screenings, mobilize affected communities, produce culturally sensitive materials and effective outreach, maximize our limited resources, and limit mass hysteria and epidemics. Without this critical, life-saving demographic information, our public health system is decimated.
Proposition 54 will rid of us this very resource by disallowing us the ability to collect, analyze, and utilize data on racial and ethnic variations in health within California. Proponents of 54 will argue that there is a "medical research exemption" but this exemption is woefully inadequate in the needs for true and proper health care and only specifies "medical research," not the very type of uses mentioned above that we know save lives every day.
These are the very reasons why most of the medical establishment has come out against Proposition 54: California Medical Association, California Nurses Association, Kaiser Permanente, California Public Health Association, California Primary Care Association, California Conference of Local Health Officers, among many others. (To see the full list of medical and other organizations opposed to Proposition 54, click on http://www.defeat54.org/endorsers.asp)
As your friend and an interested party in the public health and welfare of my fellow citizens, I urge you to find out more about this dangerous initiative by viewing the website of the No on 54 campaign: http://www.defeat54.org, and especially its section on how it will effect our health care system: http://www.defeat54.org/healthcare.shtml.
Spread the word, get involved, and make sure everyone knows about this initiative on the well-known recall ballot on October 7. (FYI: Many public employees are not allowed to take a position or express points of view on campaign issues; however, one can still pass along information that comes to them, such as this email, to others via a simple "FYI: For Your Information" or by spreading the word about it via one's personal time and personal resources.) You can also read more about this initiative on my own personal webpage devoted to the No on 54 campaign: http://www.reesesworld.com/sep03.htm.
Thanks for your time and the great work you do everyday on behalf of our state's and our people's health care. Remember, Proposition 54 is Bad Medicine for California!
Yours,
Reese Aaron Isbell, M.P.P.
http://www.reesesworld.com
Who can you contact and help spread the word?
| Articles |
“My chance of getting cervical cancer is five times that of a white woman,” said [Xuan Cao of the Vietnamese American Public Affairs Committee]. “This is a matter of life or death.”
"Health issues are not color-blind -- and government records often provide essential warnings and clues about how and when diseases are afflicting various demographic groups. Public-health experts present a compelling case that Proposition 54 would block the collection of this vital information. Ignorance is not bliss."
Editorial in September 2nd Chronicle: "Initiative could hurt integration efforts"
'FREEDOM FROM RACE' IS A DREAM: To be sure, we've made progress since the March on Washington, four decades ago. But, for many, many children in California, the promise of this great democracy is still only a dream.
The real question in my mind is... whether they'll get down to the real issue: acknowledging that a little thing called history is entirely missing from what passes for a debate about race in this country. And history has everything to do with what we think of certain people and how that gets translated into public policy and continuing inequality, generation to generation.
YES! "Prop. 54 slides as voters learn more about it" Keep on spreadin' the word.
Who's funding the pro-Prop. 54 campaign?
Commentary on Prop. 54 a year before it was to be on the ballot: Should an open democracy blind itself to these facts? ....the RPI won't do anything to stop discrimination or disparities - - it would just keep us from being able to learn about these things and take steps to address them.
more to come, check back often....
| Resources |
Check out the website for the No on 54 campaign.
Get the Facts on the issue
Check out the long list against 54--Coalition for an Informed California-- organizations, community leaders, medical groups, civil liberties/rights groups, everyone!
Prop 54 would destroy our public health system. It's Bad Medicine and Bad for California!
September 2003:
NO on Prop 54