Leaders Say Preferences Ban Will Add to Latinos’ Woes

Latino leaders Friday brought to the nation’s capital their concerns about decreased minority university admissions in California, warning that the poverty and dropout problems among Latino youths will only worsen unless the trend is reversed.

Officials of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other organizations who sponsored a Capitol Hill press briefing said they were determined to overcome anti-affirmative action policies in California.

“Racial, gender and ethnic intolerance as well as the existence of double standards continues to exist,” Angelica Santacruz, a board member of the Hispanic Assn. of Colleges and Universities, told reporters. “As long as everyone is not yet invited to participate or even compete on a level playing field to demonstrate their aptitude and potential, affirmative action is needed.”

Figures released this month by the UC system showed that the number of African Americans accepted for the fall by UC Berkeley plunged 66%, and that the number admitted to UCLA dropped 43%, as the state’s premier public institutions selected the first freshman class in two decades without preference for race, ethnicity or gender.

Declines among Latinos were somewhat smaller but still substantial--53% at Berkeley and 33% at UCLA.

On the federal level, the Latino groups said they would press for defeat of a congressional amendment proposed by Rep. Frank Riggs (R-Windsor) that would ban affirmative action in college admissions nationwide. The Riggs amendment to the Higher Education Act was modeled on Proposition 209, the anti-affirmative action measure approved by California voters.

While barring recipients of the act’s funding--which include virtually every university and college in the country--from discrimination and preferences in admission, Riggs’ proposal would permit schools to recruit qualified women and minorities “to achieve the twin goals of diversity and minority outreach without the need for preferences that favor one minority group over another,” he said.

Those participating in Friday’s briefing deplored the prospect of a nationwide drop in minority college admissions similar to the trend at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

Carmen Joge, representing the National Council of La Raza, said that Latino children have a higher poverty rate than any other group and that too many drop out of school before finishing the eighth grade.

“Despite this, Latinos are underrepresented in federal education and related programs that were designed to serve the neediest of our children,” Joge said.