#sca-5

hey ok please listen up

i have seen so much misinformation about california's recently introduced sca-5 initiative and i would like to get a few things out there

sca-5 is meant to repeal sections of prop 209 which ended affirmative action in california in 1996

repealing prop 209 would once again allow colleges in the university of california system to take race, sex, ethnicity, and/or national origin into account along with academic and extracurricular factors when admitting students

basically what this means is that if a college admissions panel must decide between two applicants who are equal in terms of test scores/academic achievement/extracurriculars/etc., but one of the applicants identifies themselves as part of an underrepresented group, then the college will accept that applicant

since prop 209 was passed, enrollment of black, latin@ and native american students at has dropped 57% at uc berkeley and 53% at ucla

meanwhile, according to an analysis of these enrollment statistics, asian american students in total account for 40% of the student population in the uc system while making up 14% of the state population

however, according to the same statistics, filipino american students in particular make up only about 2% of the student population in the uc system

senator ed hernandez, who introduced sca-5, has stated that it will not create quotas for asian american students

he has also stated that sca-5 will work in favor of underrepresented asian and pacific islander groups such as filipino americans and hmong americans, who face higher high school dropout rates and lower college admissions rates than other API ethnic groups

if you just take a look at the list of groups that support sca-5 you'll see it includes a bunch of pacific islander and southeast asian organizations, as well as several black and latin@ organizations so to say that sca-5 has no benefits for or support from asian americans is just straight up incorrect

so much of the criticism of sca-5 has come from wealthy asian americans (particularly chinese americans) whose arguments are built on antiblackness, classism, and an ignorance of how race and education interact in the u.s.

seriously, look at this article criticizing sca-5. read the comments. there's antiblack and anti-latin@ racism all over the place

please remember that affirmative action and its effects do not exist in an ahistorical vacuum

please remember that the u.s. has historically used education--and denial thereof--not only as a tool of oppression but as a WEAPON

please remember that affirmative action in college admissions was and is meant to combat centuries of racism embedded into our educational systems: banning people of color from being educated, segregated schools, racist pseudoscience taught as fact, racist tracking of ap/honors vs. general ed students, increased suspension & expulsion rates for black and latin@ students

please remember that the myth of the asian model minority is just that--a myth, created & propagated by white politicians and media during the civil rights era to racially frame asian americans as the "good" people of color ("good" meaning silent, passive, hardworking, assimilable into whiteness)

please remember that the model minority myth erases the realities of millions of hmong americans, cambodian americans, laotian americans, vietnamese americans, and other asian american groups who face some of the highest poverty & high school dropout rates in the country

please remember that the model minority myth places asian americans in opposition to other people of color, such as black and latin@ folks, who have historically faced stronger opposition from white supremacy in their efforts to attain economic & educational success

please remember that when this kind of racial conflict occurs--when different groups of people of color participate in each others' oppression--it is ONLY and ALWAYS white supremacy that benefits in the long run

Does anyone have any unbiased, independent, investigative reporting on SCA-5 / Prop. 209? This would include pieces written by major newspapers or journals, NOT written by Asian-specific periodicals whose articles obviously show that their sole interest is in impacts on admissions numbers for one particular race?

A proposed amendment to the California constitution has recently triggered public anger across Asian-American communities.  Opponents say that the amendment is discriminatory as it would dramatically decrease the proportion of Asian-American students in public universities, leaving long-lasting, disastrous impacts on education and employment opportunities for these communities. They are urging action to stop it from being approved in the state assembly. Supporters, however, argue that affirmative action is needed because of a rapid decline in the representation of minorities on campuses. In tabling the California Senate Constitution Amendment No. 5 (SCA5), which was passed in the state senate on January 30, Ed Hernandez, a Democratic state senator, said that the number of Latino, African American and Native American students in the University of California had declined dramatically. The amendment would allow the state to give preferential treatment in public education to individuals or groups based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. It will also apply to public employment and contracting. If SCA5 is passed in the state assembly, it will be presented to the state voters in the November election. Bob Huff, Republican leader in the state senate, spoke out against SCA5. Huff warned that it is dangerous to pass the amendment as it would restart a new round of racial discrimination. The Declaration of Independence says "All men are created equal," but SCA5 is contrary to this, Huff added.

recently at Chinese school i found out about SCA-5, which is supposed to allow public universities in California to discriminate based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin

according to what i've heard from people at my school, it's supposed to cut down the amount of Asians accepted too

i could really use your help because this is pretty awful.

a bill like this shouldn't even be considered. unfortunately, it passed the senate on 1/30/14.

if this bill is allowed to pass, then what's next? that we have separate drinking fountains and public establishments for different races too? 

so please please please sign this petition or signal boost. it would really help and it only takes a minute or two.

The bill that gives college admissions the right to deny/allow an individual/group's admission into their institution based on race, gender, ethnicity, etc. just passed the California Senate.

I'm out of college but it really sucks when America is supposed to be a merit-based society when there are butt-hurt people that can't admit their children just needs to work harder and study smarter thinking they are self-entitled to an education with the subpar numbers they have.

It also sucks that Asians are carrying the title of "model minority", which was enforced upon us by a white sociologist, to justify their success. Well reality check: not all Asians are smart. And it doesn't help that Asian Americans are already expected to have stats that are much higher than the average score of the admission class to get into the same university.

I know CSULA/Cal Poly Pomona is already giving automatic admission to students from low-income high schools who meet a specific GPA. It should be up to the universities to decide what kind of support they want to give to underrepresented minorities.