Jackson Tells Students No on 209, Yes on 210
Seizing an opportunity in what appeared to be a hotbed of support for affirmative action, the Rev. Jesse Jackson tried Monday to link discussion of the California Civil Rights Initiative at Cal State Long Beach to another issue on the November ballot: the state’s minimum wage.
Jackson told hundreds of cheering students that efforts to defeat Proposition 209, which calls for an end to state government affirmative action programs, should be accompanied by support for Proposition 210, a seemingly unrelated initiative that would boost the minimum wage to $5.25 an hour by March 1998.
“You really cannot separate saying no on 209 to yes on 210,” he said. “Keep doors open and pay people a livable wage once they get inside the doors.”
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