For Immediate Release

June 14, 2020

Fremont, San Diego & Irving, California: Representing a diverse and broad-based coalition of concerned organizations to oppose Assembly Constitutional Amendment ACA 5, the Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation (SVCAF), San Diego Asian Americans for Equality (SDAAFE), TOC Foundation and Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) issued the following statement denouncing several members of Californian Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus. 

During a recent Assembly floor held on June 10th, San Francisco API Caucus Chair Assemblymember David Chiu and members of the API caucus turned a blind eye to fierce opposition of ACA 5 from their constituency, including a large majority of the Asian-American community. They passed ACA 5 on a majority party-line vote – 60 to 14.  Members of the API Legislative Caucus who voted to pass ACA 5 included: David Chiu (17 D), Al Muratsuchi (66 D), Ash Kalra (27 D), Rob Bonta (18 D), Todd Gloria (78 D), Evan Low (28 D), Adrin Nazarian (46 D), and Phil Ting (19 D).

Lacking transparency and using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse, Assembly Democrats only held one committee hearing for ACA-5 which was heard in the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Assembly Democrats purposely ignored holding policy hearing for ACA 5 in the Assembly Higher Education Committee.

In addition, Chiu, Muratsuchi, Bonta, Gloria and Low delivered floor remarks to tout their support of ACA 5, endorsing the blatant lies that are perpetuated in the language of the legislation. ACA 5 would not advance the interests of hard-working Asian Americans in California.

Adding insult to the situation, Chiu and Low slandered the strong grass-root outreach efforts to legislators. Instead of embracing their constituency’s high level of civic engagement, both members ignored their constituents’ deep concerns of ACA 5. Chiu egregiously insinuated that the voters’ anti-discrimination movement is anti-civil rights and misquoted a debunked survey on Asian Americans’ attitudes toward affirmative action, an over-loaded and often misused concept. Low took one step further to disparage first-generation Asian Americans as ignorant to our nation’s history on race relations. In essence, their remarks were slanderous and xenophobic. 

ACA 5 has triggered growing resentment and opposition within the community, including Asian-American parents and families. Proponents are blatantly claiming that ACA 5 would offer “government preference” of contracts to women and minorities. Rather, the true intent of ACA 5 is to repeal Proposition 209 which prohibits the state from “discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin”. 

ACA 5 is a divisive and discriminatory legislation and will only perpetuate the blatant practices of racial balancing against Asian American students in California. Proponents of ACA 5 like Chiu and Low are advocating for de facto quotas, stereotypes, and higher standards. ACA 5’s proposal to legalize racial preferences erodes America’s fundamental principles of equal opportunity, merit and individual liberty. It further hurts the unity of our society, at a particularly vulnerable moment facing our nation and California.

“Assembly Democrats in Sacramento who voted to pass ACA 5 sold us out. They caved to identify politics and betrayed public trust. They shamelessly stomped on our interests and virtues of the Asian-American community with blatant disregard for the future of our younger generation to pursue the American Dream. Their political pandering and misrepresentation of Asian American’ voices will be accountable,” said members of the Asian American Coalition working to defeat ACA 5.”  said members of the coalition working to defeat ACA 5.

Click here to review the growing and diverse list of organizations working to defeat ACA 5.

San Diego Asian Americans for Equality

Silicon Valley Chinese Association Foundation

TOC Foundation

Asian American Coalition for Education

MEDIA CONTACT: Dr. Wenyuan Wu, wenyuan.wu@californiansforequalrights.org; (760) 705-8262.

About SDAAFE: http://www.sdaafe.org/.

About SVCAF: https://www.svcaf.org/. 

About TOC Foundation: https://www.tocfoundation.org/.

About AACE: http://asianamericanforeducation.org/en/home/.