regarding 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
please remember all of this when you form an opinion on sca-5
