The Color Bind tells the story of how Glynn Custred and Thomas Wood, two unknown academics, decided to write Proposition 209 in 1992 and thereby set in motion a series of events, far beyond their control, destined to transform the legal, political,and everyday meaning of civil rights for the next generation. Going behind the mass media coverage of the initiative, Lydia Chvez narrates the complex underlying motivations and maneuvering of the people, organizations, and political parties involved in the campaign to end affirmative action in California. For the first time, the role of University of California regent Ward Connerly in the campaignone largely assigned to public relationsis put into perspective. In the course of the book Chvezalso provides a rare behind-the-scenes journalistic account of the complex and fascinating workings of the initiative process. Chvez recreates the post-election climate of 1994, when the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI)...
