On November 5, 1996 the people of the state of California passed one of the most important ballot questions pertaining to the question of affirmative action, the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI). Intended to eliminate most, though not all, forms of California state-sponsored affirmative action, a portion of the initiative reads:

Neither the State of California nor any of its political subdivisions or agents shall use race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin as a criterion for either discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group in the operation of the State's system of public employment, public education or public contracting.

To its supporters the initiative is consistent with the primary goal of the American Civil Rights movement, equal opportunity for all regardless of race or gender. They cite in their defense a portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that no employer is required to "grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on account of any imbalance which may exist" between the number of employees in such groups and "the total number or percentage of persons of such race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in any community, State, section, or other area" (from provision 703(j) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964).