A poor proposition.

Byline: The Register-Guard

In a perfect world, there are no racial inequities. Cops don't stop motorists for "driving while black." Minorities have equal access to schools and score the same on tests. People of all races receive the same high-quality health care. Hate crimes don't exist.

Of course, we don't live in a perfect - or colorblind - world. That's why it's important for state and local governments to collect information on race, ethnicity, color and national origin. Without this data, it would be impossible to fix - or even identify - racial inequities. Discrimination would hide under a cloak of invisibility, and public institutions could not be held accountable for bias.

Proposition 54 in California's on-again, off-again special election would bar state and local governments from collecting racial data in areas ranging from education to public employment. Since California is a notorious breeding ground for initiatives, versions of the measure may soon crop up in other states.

California voters can help discourage that from happening by defeating this measure, which would hamstring equal education, public health, civil rights and other fundamental protections.

The measure is the brainchild of Ward Connerly, a University of California regent who embraces the deceptively appealing idea that racial categorization reinforces social inequality. In 1996, he spearheaded California's Proposition 209, a high-profile initiative banning affirmative action in California's public universities. Its backers included the same conservatives who are leading the fight for Proposition 54.

The measure, strategically named the "Racial Privacy Initiative," is a masterpiece of right-wing wordcraft that obscures the true intent of the initiative - the preservation of the unlevel societal playing field that still unfairly limits opportunities for minorities.

Backers of Connerly's utopian scheme insist it will move California closer to the ideal of a color-blind society by taking race out of the equation. But the answer is not making race irrelevant - it's recognizing the realities of race and making every effort to correct inequalities.

If Proposition 54 passes, the result will be more, not less, racial profiling by law enforcement agencies. It will become more difficult to keep track of hate crimes and for governments to make sure their workforces reflect the diversity of the populations they serve. Educators would be unable to identify - and deal with - achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups. Health-care professionals would have a harder time tracking and treating the diseases that uniquely affect different minorities.

Recent polls show Connerly's initiative leading, but support is slipping. On beneficial side effect of the otherwise unwelcome federal appeals court's decision to postpone the Oct. 7 election would be to give opponents the time they need to close the gap and ensure the measure's defeat.

California - and the rest of the nation - have not yet achieved an enlightened state of race-blindness. Until they do, there is a need for systems to collect data on color, race, ethnicity, gender and national origin.