Submission: Mainstream narrative fails to represent Asian American community

We, the Asian Pacific Coalition at UCLA, are a collective of 24 Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations. We are the official voice of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community on campus. Through our Principles
of Unity, a code by which our coalition organizes, we affirm the right to
higher education for all communities, especially those who have historically
been denied full access.

In particular, we are writing in support of the formerly proposed California Senate Constitutional Amendment 5 – a proposal that asks voters to consider repealing Proposition 209’s ban on the use of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in California public education programs.

SCA 5 was introduced by California Sen. Edward Hernandez on Dec. 3, 2012. After passing in the Senate and reaching the Assembly, it was recently referred back to the Senate for reexamination on March 17 because of pressure from Chinese American lobbyists.

Recently, several news outlets have published reports regarding Asian American attitudes toward affirmative action and SCA 5. However, many of these have only depicted a narrative of stern opposition, when in fact it is predominantly a small population of Chinese Americans – such as the 80-20 lobbyist group – that is attempting to speak on behalf of all Asian Pacific Islander communities. It is extremely disappointing to witness this phenomenon while other Asian Pacific Islander groups remain invisible and voiceless.

We seek to clarify that the mainstream narrative does not represent our communities and that we will not allow our voices to be rendered irrelevant. These reports perpetuate the model minority myth and continue to divide communities of color on crucial community issues.

As a coalition comprised of several ethnic Asian Pacific Islander groups, the Asian Pacific Coalition emphasizes that affirmative action policies are, contrary to misconceptions, beneficial for Asian Pacific Islanders. Through the implementation of Proposition 209, race-blind admissions have been detrimental to all communities of color. Additionally, after Proposition 209 passed in 1997, admission rates of Asian Pacific Islanders actually decreased at five out of the eight UC campuses with race-blind admissions.

It is imperative to continually clarify that Southeast Asians, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders – who all fit under Asian American racial categorization – are groups that experience some of the lowest college attendance rates. Some of the misconceptions of affirmative action are maintained by the lack of disaggregated data, which masks these disparities.

Furthermore, the low representation of African American and Latina/Latino students at our higher education institutions is especially disturbing. As concluded by a 2012 study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, underrepresentation of minority communities creates a detrimental effect on campus climate, which has salience in daily activities. At UCLA, we have experienced the consequences from a lack of diversity through the continuance of racialized hate crimes on campus.

In promoting unity and cooperative interaction among different communities, we stress the importance for members of the Asian Pacific Islander community to work in solidarity with other communities of color. While affirmative action has been framed centrally as an African American and Latina/Latino issue, Asian Pacific Islanders are stakeholders in this issue as well. Nonetheless, we must utilize our voices and act beyond self-interest in order to understand the oppressive histories that others have experienced.

While SCA 5 is currently halted, we have the responsibility to continue advocating for educational change through other initiatives. Rather than focusing solely on admissions, we must further demand change from the state, specifically with its larger disinvestment in California’s public education system.

To increase educational opportunity, the state must commit to promoting diversity and inclusion, sustaining retention and recruitment programs, providing visibility for underrepresented and underserved groups and ensuring affordability for all students. These are all issues that California students grapple with, and in identifying them, we must advocate for larger efforts for equitable change.

Therefore, in recognizing the right to higher education for all students, we demand that our state legislators remain committed to enacting policies that reflect the diversity of California. Additionally, we affirm the student voice as one that must be acknowledged and included in the discussion of this legislation.

Thus we call upon members of our campus community – as well as those beyond – to advocate in solidarity for equitable educational opportunity. In working toward this vision, we are committed to cross-community building and supporting policies like SCA 5 that benefit all communities of color, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Nguyen is the Asian Pacific Coalition leadership development coordinator and a fourth-year Asian American studies student. Kiang is the Asian Pacific Coalition assistant director of external affairs and a second-year Asian American studies student.