Caffeinated Politics

Wisconsin voters are being asked this November to consider a constitutional amendment that arrives dressed as a tribute to equality but carries consequences that would undermine it.

The question on the ballot will read as follows.

“Shall section 27 of article I of the constitution be created to prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration?”

Almost reads as if it comes with a slice of apple pie, too. Warm and just out of the oven.

In reality, however, it is a dangerous and deeply misleading attempt to dismantle the very tools Wisconsin uses to correct inequity and enforce equal access to opportunity.

There is no dispute that our state already prohibits discrimination. What this amendment targets is not discrimination itself, but the mechanisms that allow Wisconsin to address it. Programs that recruit underrepresented students, outreach efforts that ensure diverse applicant pools, scholarships designed to close achievement gaps, and contracting initiatives that prevent minority‑owned businesses from being shut out of public work would all be jeopardized. The amendment would not stop discrimination and has no real desire to achieve that result. Rather, it would stop the remedies that help reduce discrimination. It would make it unconstitutional for the state to acknowledge disparities even when those disparities are documented by decades of data.

It does not take this column to point out the obvious. This is yet another effort by the Republican Party via their national strategy to eliminate affirmative action and diversity programs at the state level. Since they cannot win on the merits, they use civics-sounding language that echoes like equality to outlaw policies that actually seek to end discrimination.

Here is the point I wish to stress to my readers. If Wisconsin enshrines this language into its constitution, the state will be barred from responding to inequities that emerge in the future. Demographic shifts, economic changes, migration patterns, and evolving educational needs would all collide with a constitutional wall preventing action. In addition, the fiction that this amendment is presented as fact is galling. The pushers of this amendment want us to believe that Wisconsin is already a level playing field. It pretends that race and gender no longer shape outcomes in education, employment, or contracting. But Wisconsin’s own data shows persistent disparities in graduation rates, income, homeownership, incarceration, and access to capital.

If enacted, this amendment would cement disparity across our state. It is a dangerous sleight of hand, an awful proposal that smiles while it quietly removes the tools Wisconsin needs to build a more inclusive future.

Vote NO on this amendment in the fall.