California, one of the most progressive states in the nation, is regressing from its long effort to eliminate policies that treat people differently based on their skin color or ethnic identity. The fight for equality was victorious in1996 when California voters outlawed the use of racial preferences in state institutions by overwhelmingly passing Proposition 209, which banned discrimination and preferential treatment based on race, color, sex, ethnicity or national origin in public education, contracting and employment.
In late January, however, the state Senate voted to put a Senate Constitutional Amendment on the November ballot. If passed, SCA5 would allow all state universities to consider race and gender when making admission decisions. According to Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), the motive to repeal Proposition 209 is that the percentage of minority students in the University of California and California State University systems has declined dramatically since Proposition 209 was passed.
In 1995, 38 percent of California high school graduates were minorities, whereas 21 percent of freshmen in the UC system were minorities, according to The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. But in 2004, the number of high school graduate minorities increased to 45 percent, while the number of minority freshmen in the UC system decreased to 18 percent. Though SCA5 doesn’t explicitly limit the enrollment of Asian students, the proposed amendment apparently is aimed at doing so, given the statistics that this year’s class is 43 percent Asian American, 28 percent white, 21 percent Latino and 4 percent African American. The percentage of Asian students in the UC system is more than twice the percentage of California’s overall Asian population.
SCA5 has stirred strong opposition in Asian-American communities. Asian-Americans took to the street and expressed their furor not only because of the bill itself, but also because three Asian-American senators voted for SCA5. Wielding political power against Asian immigrants is nothing new in the United States’ history. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which deliberately prevented Chinese laborers from migrating to the U.S. White American workers at that time complained that the influx of Chinese laborers downsized the average wage in the labor market. The bill was smoothly passed because there were barely any representatives advocating for Chinese Americans’ interest in Congress.
Much progress has been made in the battle for equality under law, but most Asian-Americans still stick to their tradition when it comes to politics: avoiding political activity or passively engaging in it. In a country where laws are played out by political negotiation, apathy in politics does no good in protecting an ethnic group’s rights. In the case of SCA 5, it has no longer been a problem of pure education policy anymore with politics coming in. Ideally, college admission should put the largest weight on an applicant’s academic record. Asian students are well known for their tough discipline and hard work at school, rewarding them in a way that a large number of students are admitted to the most selective schools in the UC system.
But working hard and being outstanding is not enough to guarantee privilege in the college admission process. State colleges have a responsibility to give other ethnic groups an equal opportunity to receive higher education. The best way to settle the balance between merits and race in college admission is through political process. That’s why actively engaging in politics is important to Asian-Americans to keep what they deserve. Unfortunately, many Asian-Americans aren’t familiar with the political process in the U.S. or are not interested in participating in practicing rights such as voting. Those who like to vote have loose principles when it comes to partisan support and will swing to whichever party if politicians promise policies that are in their favor.
Despite having minority status, much could be achieved by the Asian-American community with wise involvement in the political process. If the Asian-American communities cannot unite and fully exploit the political system to forge legislative agent and protect their rights, other ethnic groups will do so to protect their own, and they will eventually win more bargaining power over Asian-Americans.
