As Chancellor Birgeneau continues his crusade against Prop. 209, we’ll continue to keep a close watch on him. In his recent editorial in the LA Times, and now interview on Berkeley NewsCenter, he makes clear his position on the matter. But we have known since at least a month ago, what he was up to. And we also have an article in the latest Patriot about the going-ons.

Here’s some of excerpts from the interview:

Q. Are you suggesting that those who voted for 209 may not have known what they were getting into or what the consequences of its passage would be?

A. I think people voted for 209 idealistically and generally thought it would produce a fairer system. My conclusion, and the conclusion of many people around me, is that because it has resulted in a dramatic diminution in numbers of particular classes of California citizens, it has in fact created a system that is quite unfair.

Californians finally realized that race-based affirmative action was totally unfair. They changed the system to a fairer one. Get it? Got it? Good.

Q. Ward Connerly and others would say Proposition 209 is very clear: You can’t use race, ethnicity, or gender as a factor in making decisions, either about admissions or hiring. Why do you think this is not clear?

That is where we get into the intersection of a person’s race and the circumstances under which they grew up. A person may grow up in circumstances that are strongly disadvantageous, and I think we need to understand those better.

Here’s an essay by John McWhorter on the myth that Birgeneau is trying to perpetuate.

Q. Asian American students are well-represented in the Berkeley student body, and many of them face disadvantages as well.

A. All the people of California take great pride in the achievements of our Asian American students; we are very happy that the Asian community is so well represented here. Unfortunately, the African American and Chicano/Latino and Native American communities are grossly underrepresented. My concern is not only the low numbers of underrepresented students relative to the population of California now, but with what we’ll see if we project forward — especially with regard to the Chicano/Latino community — just 20 years. The students we are educating now, and who we hope will provide leadership in the future, are an even smaller percentage of what that population will be 20 years from now. My view is that as a public university we are not meeting our responsibilities in terms of the public good.

Couldn’t be any clearer: Less Asians.

Q. What will Berkeley be doing on your watch to meet what you believe to be our public responsibility?

A. First of all, because we are a university and we do research, it is our intention to create new research programs to help us to understand the state of California in a post-209 environment, to understand the importance of multiculturalism, to understand the importance of diversity and its impact on our society as a whole.

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