The failure of the referendum suggests a final drawback of race-sensitive policies: in a democracy, supposedly progressive measures that are incapable of winning popular majorities—even in a highly diverse and left-leaning state like California—simply aren’t capable of delivering on the benefits they promise in a sustainable manner.
That is the truth. Winning hearts and minds is hard work. That is why activists of all stripes favor power plays instead. They are fundamentally wrong in their short-term approach.
