"Remember Initiative 200? The 1998 measure essentially banned affirmative action on Washington's college campuses.

The debate back then was mostly about fairness. Proponents of I-200 said it was a step toward a colorblind society, a promise of the equality of merit and the limited role of government to make that so. Opponents, too, talked about fairness.

While I-200 was enacted, more than half of all American Indians who graduated from high school were college bound. Today the number is 38 percent -- and showing a downward trend.

It's clear that the arguments for I-200 were wrong. Higher education is becoming less representative of the state -- and our economic future.

When voters looked at this issue eight years ago, the discourse was framed about fairness. That might have been the right argument then -- but it's exactly wrong now."

Get the Story:
Initiative 200 misread the future (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 11/5)

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