The most underreported story coming out of California is the extent to which Proposition 54, Ward Connerly’s so-called Racial Privacy Initiative, was roundly rejected by voters. Not only was the ballot initiative turned down by voters of all races— the total against the ill-conceived measure exceeded the ballots cast for Arnold Schwarzenegger by more than 1 million votes.

In the days leading up to the Oct. 7 special election, most of the attention centered around whether Schwarzenegger, the body builder-turned-actor best known for his role in the movie, “The Terminator,” could become “the governator.”

So the real surprise in the election is that the actor-turned-governor-in-waiting received 3,850, 804 votes, while opposition to Proposition 54 attracted 5,071,565 votes—1.2 million more than the governor-elect. It’s also more than the combined number cast for the 135 runner-ups, including Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, a Democrat, and Republican State Sen. Tom McClintock, according to figures compiled by California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.

Across the state, voters rejected the idea by a margin of 63.9 percent to 36.1 percent. In conservative Orange County, Proposition 54 went down 390,450 votes (55.3 percent) to 316,669 (44.7 percent). In another conservative bastion, San Diego County, the measure was rejected 463,351 (60.5 percent) to 302,802 (39.5 percent). Even in Connerly’s backyard, Sacramento County, the initiative he sponsored was rejected 183,067 (58.6 percent) to 131,243 (41.7 percent).

Connerly, the California businessman who in 1996 engineered the passage of Proposition 209 banning affirmative action by state and local agencies, had argued that passing Proposition 54 would unite the races and move America closer to a colorblind society. The initiative did indeed unite the races—against the proposal.

The measure, if passed, would have prohibited the collection of data about a person’s race, ethnicity, color or national origin in the operation of public education, contracting and employment.

Opponents argued that Proposition 54 would have hampered the prosecution of hate crimes, derailed efforts to curb racial profiling by law enforcement agencies and prevented the collection of medical data that would show differences between races. It would have harmed education by eliminating the tracking of progress—or lack of progress—made by disadvantaged groups and made it harder to detect discriminatory behavior and practices. Curiously, the measure would not have prevented agencies from collecting information on a person’s sex.

According to news media interviews with voters after they exited the voting booths, 58 percent of Whites voted against the measure, 70 percent of Hispanics and 79 percent of African-Americans.

“Defeat of Proposition 54 signifies that Ward Connerly and those who want to deny the existence of prejudice and racism have been repudiated,” says Judith Lichtman, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families. “…Connerly’s professed goal of color-blindness would not be reached by turning a blind eye to the very data that helps us provide equal opportunity for all.”

As was the case with Proposition 209, Right-wingers rounded up the usual Black conservative suspects to deflect criticism that the measure would harm African-Americans in particular. Of the sample list of endorsers on its pro-Proposition 54 Web site, four of the five names cited—Connerly, Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams—are Black conservatives. Columnist George Will was the lone White listed in the group. But neither Blacks nor Whites were duped.

Has Connerly finally gotten the message? Hardly. He has announced that he will place the issue on the state’s ballot again in a few years.

Regardless of what Connerly does, the California vote represents significant progress in addressing the issue of racial discrimination. According to most national public opinion polls, Blacks and Whites agree that racial discrimination has been an issue in the past, but sharply differ over the impact of racial discrimination today.

For example, a Gallop Poll conducted in 1997 found that 59 percent of Blacks feel that government should make every effort to improve the conditions of African-Americans, while only 34 percent of Whites shared that view. A majority of Blacks — 53 percent—said that affirmative action efforts should be strengthened; only 22 percent of Whites agreed. When asked about the treatment of African-Americans, 76 percent of Whites said Blacks are treated the same as Whites. But only 49 percent of Blacks concurred.

The recent California election is not going to magically close that deep divide. However, it is an encouraging sign that when voters are given all of the facts, they realize that we will never achieve a color-blind society by being blind to the facts of life.