Southern California's Asian American movements for and against the initiative have been unable to reconcile despite shared interests. 

“Stop divisive and racist Prop 16!” reads a giant banner, held up by masked protesters at a recent Arcadia rally. “Keep discrimination illegal!”

More than 500 community members drove in to a car rally at Arcadia County Park on Saturday, Aug. 8 to oppose Proposition 16, an initiative on the Nov. 3 California ballot which would legalize race-aware decisions in public college admissions, hiring and contracting.

Many disagree over whether affirmative action is inclusive or discriminatory, but no one doubts it is a divisive issue in the Asian American community. Members of a vocal portion of the community in California has become leading opponents of Proposition 16 — part of a deeper, contentious relationship between Asian Americans and affirmative action.

Local Asian American movements for and against the initiative have been unable to reconcile despite shared interests. Proposition 16 has been endorsed by many organizations, such as the California API Legislative Caucus and Asian Americans Advancing Justice, a legal advocacy group.

The opposition has been more homegrown, led by concerned parents and students who worry that California’s public universities will shut them out. A petition on change.org called “Vote No On Proposition 16 (ACA-5)!” has collected a whopping 139,000 signatures and counting.

The debate has largely centered on affirmative action in college admissions, though the initiative will also affect public hiring and contracting decisions. Voter surveys conducted by AAPI Data, a research group at UC Riverside, have generally reported that more Asian Americans support affirmative action than oppose it. The research center, which disaggregates Asian American and Pacific Islander census data, found that opposition is most often led by Chinese Americans.

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