明天好好读。xxsl..
In California, SCA 5 may be DOA due to Asian Americans against affirmative
action
March 14, 2014 1:06 PM
For a change, there's a movement to restore affirmative action, and not to
end it.
Unfortunately, because of some short-sighted Asian Americans, SCA 5 may die
before it can get to the electorate.
SCA 5 is Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 5, which seeks to overturn
Proposition 209 in California. That was the initiative that won a simple
majority at the ballot in 1996 and ended the use of race in all educational
admissions, public hiring, and public contracting.
Since then, Prop. 209 has been replicated like a bad seed to thwart
affirmative action, but not without legal challenges along the way,
including in Michigan, where its version is now being considered by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
In California, Prop. 209 has survived all challenges at both the state
Supreme Court and at the legislative level. Meanwhile, the state's black,
Latino, and segments of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community,
most notably the Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander groups,
remain woefully underrepresented.
Still, to overturn 209 is practically herculean. Having passed an initiative
process, Prop. 209 became a constitutional amendment. And to overturn that
requires amending the amendment--no small feat.
It hasn't stopped State Senator Edward Hernandez (D-West Covina) from trying
. After three attempts to pass a measure to reverse Prop. 209, his latest,
SCA 5, was approved in the Senate this year.
Now it goes before the State Assembly for a vote, and if it's passed by a
super-majority there, it goes before the voters in a referendum as early as
Nov. 4 this year.
Climbing Mount Everest might be easier.
The political fight to kill it has already begun. Some Asian American groups
against affirmative action have jumped the gun and gone on the offensive,
targeting electeds, including some Asian Americans in both the Senate and
the Assembly in Southern California.
It's a different role for Asian Americans, even in the affirmative action
debate.
Normally, the fight is over ending affirmative action, and Asian Americans
are trotted out by predominantly white anti-affirmative action groups as the
poor "aggrieved victims," as in Texas and Michigan.
In this new California fight to reverse the ending of affirmative action,
some Chinese Americans, most of them new immigrants, have learned their
political role and have been quick to speak out first. And in a state like
California, where Asians are the second largest ethnic minority after
Latinos, politicians who are prone to ignore Asian Americans can't dismiss
such a vocal contingent.
Some public officials reportedly have tempered their support or have begun
to hedge on SCA 5.
On Change.org, over 100,000 signatures have been collected on a petition
drive opposing SCA 5. The comment box shows the standard responses, such as
the perversion of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s statement, "I have a dream
that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their
character."
I doubt Dr. King would have supported Prop. 209. He would have supported SCA
5.
Other comments: "SCA 5 is NOT fair to the student who study and work hard.
What a JOKE!"
And this: "I believe racial preference in college admission is not the right
practice and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Children who study and work hard should deserve equal opportunity
in college admission regardless of their race and gender."
And this: "Fairness is important! If a kid work harder and get better grade,
no matter what, the kid should have better chance to go to desirable school
!"
With that kind of response, or confusion, some Chinese Americans are already
proclaiming SCA 5 dead.
Well, only if the politics of fear prevail.
While it's admirable to see Asian Americans in the process, a deeper
understanding of what's at stake with 209 beyond one's short-term self
interests is important.
The fact is Prop. 209 was written by two white academics who were trying to
stem the tide of new competition from diverse groups in public education and
employment. All 209 did was preserve the overrepresentation of certain
groups, while making it impossible to do anything to remedy the
underrepresentation of others.
If you can't use race in admissions or hiring, as 209 has shown, it's hard
to adequately address ways to increase the numbers of underrepresented
groups.
Thus, Prop. 209 preserved the status quo. And in some cases, it made things
worse.
Since the passage of Prop. 209 in California, blacks have seen a 49 percent
drop in offers to UC Berkeley, and a 16 percent drop to UCLA.
The Asian American numbers have also dropped. UC Berkeley's offers to Asian
Americans before 209 were up by 75 percent, and by 14 percent after.
But that's just the freshman class.
If Asians are starting to sound like whites in this debate, it's no mistake.
Asian Americans are the most overrepresented among all students in the UC
system. When you look at the overall numbers at all the UCs, ideally, you'd
want a public system to mirror the state's population, wouldn't you?
But look at the numbers:
African Americans, 4 percent in the UC system, 7 percent in the state.
Latinos, 28 percent at UC, 38 percent in the state.
Whites, 24 percent at UC, 39 percent in the state.
American Indians, 1 percent at UC, 2 percent in the state.
Asian Americans, 40 percent at UC, 14 percent in the state.
That's why Prop. 209 needs to be reversed.
The numbers are out-of-whack.
But the perception among the mostly new immigrant community in California is
that race-based policies hurt them, and they adamantly oppose SCA 5.
Some of them are blinded to the fact that as a minority in our democracy,
their interests are best served by working in coalition with African
American, Latino, Native American, and LGBT communities to fight for greater
equity in California's top public entities.
That's real strength in numbers. It's not about fighting to preserve your 40
percent overrepresentation in the UC system.
Ironically, many of the Asian Americans against SCA 5 are in the scientific
community, where they see discrimination based on race or accent every day
at their labs. For them, the remedy has been simple. They have always relied
on working hard, scoring the highest in exams, and displaying their
credentials to prove their worth and become successful.
It's what they know, and it can make sense in some contexts. In a true
meritocracy, maybe it should.
But even they know, it doesn't always work in fighting the racism that
people of color still face in America.
For true equity and fairness, SCA 5 and the repeal of Prop. 209 makes sense
for all.
* * *
Updates at www.amok.com. Follow Emil on Twitter and like his Facebook page.
Posted by:Emil Guillermo
The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the views or
policies of AALDEF.
13 comments
1. Asian Americans, 40 percent at UC, 14 percent in the state. That's why
Prop. 209 needs to be reversed. The numbers are out-of-whack. --------------
---------------------------------------------------- Emil wants Asian
admissions to drop by 75%. He's full of self-hatred.
Posted by: Suk Min | Mar 14, 2014 7:04 PM
2. "When you look at the overall numbers at all the UCs, ideally, you'd want
a public system to mirror the state's population, wouldn't you?" -- So you'
re promoting a quota system regardless of differences in culture and social-
economical status. We will fight against SCA-5 exactly because there are
racists like you.
Posted by: Peig | Mar 14, 2014 7:32 PM
3. "The Asian American numbers have also dropped. UC Berkeley's offers to
Asian Americans before 209 were up by 75 percent, and by 14 percent after."
-- Shame on you, Emil. This is a classic case of misusing statistics for
causal reasoning. Either you just ignore sensible reasoning to advance your
political agenda, or you don't even understand how to interpret stats. "If
Asians are starting to sound like whites in this debate, it's no mistake.
Asian Americans are the most overrepresented among all students in the UC
system. " -- This is ironic. You just said Asian American were hurt by Prop
209, and right after you are saying Asian are overrepresented? Could you
please help me understand what kind of logic is this? "That's real strength
in numbers. It's not about fighting to preserve your 40 percent
overrepresentation in the UC system." -- And you're saying this is because
massive racial discrimination against other races, and massive preferential
treatment to Asian Americans? Gosh....
Posted by: Peig | Mar 14, 2014 7:40 PM
4. Sure, why not punish Asians for what whites did to blacks hundreds of
years ago, and while you are at it, give hispanics, the new majority in
California a free ride, to get a wholesale votes at the expense of Asians.
Let's get those Asians out of UC, and if they donot agree they are
shortsighted. SCA5: Get Asians out because YES WE CAN.
Posted by: connie chen | Mar 16, 2014 1:28 PM
5. Contrary to what Emil writes, individual Asian students are actually
judged by a harsher standard than are non Asians -- amounting for the
equvilant of a 100 point SAT advantage for whites and a 400 point advantage
for blacks and hispanics. It is his dubious notion of racial equality that
looks at raw numbers and not what those numbers represent.
Overrepresentation is not a matter of the numbers of students, but the
number of students who are the nighest achieving. Clearly, if Asians as a
group did not vastly outperform other groups scholastically, the percentages
would indicate invidious discrimination. The record indicates the contrary,
and all Asian parents want is for their children to be judged without
respect to race. The result at the moment would be a higher proportion of
Asian students, not based on invidious discrimination, but based on the
disproportionate high achievement of Asian Students. Smugly attributing the
concerns of Asian parents to fear mongering misses the point, and patronizes
their real concerns that their children will be judged on their own merit,
and not be sacrificed to a Moloch of faux equality. Alas, Asians are the new
Jews, and just as when the Jews began to enter the upper echelons of
education in disproportionate numbers, the dame arguments were made. The
same stratagems were also employed as well: quotas, and holistic processes
which miraculously disproportionately disfavored the higher achieving group.
Rejecting prop 209 does not promote equity or fairness for all. The Asian
parents and students who would be adversely affected see this clearly, and
all the name calling, negative insinuations, and patronizing dismissals will
not change this.
Posted by: bill | Mar 16, 2014 4:12 PM
6. Why do you use the term "ironically" when noting opposition to SCA-5? The
basic meritocracy ( although not perfect) seems to reward those who work
the hardeest and have the most talent. This had the appeal of actually
working and being eminently fair. Race normed quotas have neither virtue.
Posted by: bill | Mar 16, 2014 7:21 PM
7. The premise that racial proportions in the admitted student population
somehow must strictly reflect the racial proportions in the general
population is one which begs the question. There is no argument, except for
one's subjective preference, that these proportions must be the same. What
if the Asian community placed less emphasis on education? What if the Asian
community ignored its youth? What if that resulted in generations of
underperforming Asian students? Could the Asian community then say to the
general public, this is unfair, society is unfair, it is the responsibility
of Californians to reverse this trend by admitting Asian students in favor
of other races?
Posted by: Michael F | Mar 16, 2014 7:41 PM
8. Mr. Guillero, WRONG WRONG WRONG Affirmative Action is defined as to fix a
past wrong. NOT discriminate against an outcome someone does not like.
Answer unequivacally: Do you favor Equality of Opportunity OR Equality of
Outcome. The real crime in California is how poor the public education
system is, and how poorly it serves those children with the greatest need.
SCA 5 does nothing to fix that. Rather it seeks to paint over those crimes
by Potemkin Villiaging college admission. Mr. Guillermo, should you be just
as outraged by these facts: In 2008 $1.1 billion in college athletic
scholarships were granted. 0.1% of this went to Asian student-athletes.
Where's the fairness in that? By my calculations $60M in scholarship money
was taken out of the hands of Asian student-athletes. Is that fair?? Should
we have a NBA or Hollywood affirmative action bill to get more Asians into
these high-paying professions? Mr. Hernandez, does not care one whit about
fairness and creating more opportunity of those in need. He's playing a race
game for his own political gain. Sound familiar? Be outraged by these. Be
embarrassed by the PC robots who voted for the bill only to backtrack when
they actually read it after constituents raised a stink. Think about Mr.
Hernandez's motives, agenda, and intent.
Posted by: tom p | Mar 16, 2014 9:55 PM
9. Why stop at race..... why not religion and sexual orientation? How many
Muslim are represented at UC? Are Jews overrepresented at UC? How about LGBT
people? I don't think so!
Posted by: Kim | Mar 17, 2014 8:04 PM
10. Mr. Guillermo, I am against SCA5 simply because it is not the right
approach. If SCA5 proposes more government funds for K12 education of these
underrepresented ethnic groups and prepare them for college application
competition, I think most opponents I know would not have a problem with
that. If SCA5 proposes more government funds to expand UC system and admit
more students, most opponents I know would not have a problem at all. But
the issue is that current version of SCA5 would give preferential treatment
to certain groups, that is discrimination against other groups. I also do
not like your tone that criticized Chinese American as narrow interested. I
fight for my kids and my kids' future kids. It is my right to protect their
equal education opportunity. I am not ashamed at all. Criticism against
caring parents is despicable, or unbelievable at best. Last but not least,
we are all Americans, regardless of where we are from and our skin color. We
encourage mobility up social ladders. We care about these from
socioeconomically disadvantaged families. We consider family
socialeconomically background in the admission. Don't you think that is a
better criterion than skin color?
Posted by: Robert Wang | Mar 18, 2014 5:50 AM
11. SCA 5 is dead now, and won't be coming back for a while. Why does race
matter so much? How about using hair color or eye color or height or hair
length or something totally irrelevant for college admissions. The
assumption that different races need to be represented equally is totally
wrong; diversity in a college, private or public, should be based on
thinking process and culture, not something stupid like skin color. Some
people are working on a waterproof skin dye, so that it can be applied to
change the skin color of any person. Black people will be able to pose as
whites if they want to. Soon skin color may be as trivial as hair color.
Posted by: alex | Mar 22, 2014 1:34 PM
12. Mr. Emil Guillermo has no idea on his view on SCA5. He is just talking
out of the nonsense of liberal view ... I don't know how he is working for
Asian-Amerian. He does not understand Asian Ameriacan is ethnically
culturally diversed community. He is trying to paint them in one color.
Posted by: Jay Mckim | Apr 20, 2014 6:25 PM
13. Do you think it's fair for put a player over 70 years old on every NBA
sports team for "diversity"? Or put someone an obese person on every elite
track team or Olympic marathon team? Or a double arm amputee on a volleyball
team? All for the sake of so-called "diversity?" I am not a hater of
diversity. I have close friends of every race and religion there is. I am
simply asking for a fair chance for Asians. Because SCA5 is clearly not fair
. How is this promoting "diversity?" I say it's promoting racism. What's
next? Money redistribution to poor black and Hispanic people because rich
Asians have too much? Giving Asians harder tests? Taking points off SAT's
for being Asian? All for the sake of diversity?! Imagine if this was the
LGBT community. Would you condone the same? Would choosing students based on
sexual orientation be thought as "diversity" or hatred? I study hard every
day, so I can get into UC Berkley or UCLA. Please reconsider your views on
SCA5 and not deny my classmates and I a chance to get into a good university
because of our race.
Posted by: e | Jul 8, 201412:30 AM
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