THE 1996 elections promise to be, in part, a referendum on the question of race. The passage of Proposition 187 in California has already prompted immigration reform. Now, the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) has pierced the cocoon of establishment support that has long protected affirmative-action programs from the judgment of the American people. With presidential ambitions at stake and partisan battle lines drawn, it seems clear that voters will, for the first time, have a direct say about the future of preferential-treatment programs.