For Immediate Release
September 22, 2020
Livingston, New Jersey: After months of alliance building and community organizing, a group of civil rights leaders, prominent scholars and Asian-American organizations have successfully formed a national coalition, under the name “Californians for Equal Rights” (CFER) in opposition to Proposition 16 (formerly known as ACA-5). The Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) urges all Asian-American organizations and individuals nationwide to unite behind CFER to defend the cause of equal treatment for all, as enshrined in the California Constitution, Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Led by Mr. Ward Connerly, CFER’s esteemed team gathers tremendous talents in legal, political, and community-organizing realms. Mr. Connerly has championed civil rights initiatives to ban race-based affirmative action in 10 U.S. states. Since March, Asian-American organizations including AACE, Silicon Valley Chinese Association, San Diego Asian Americans for Equality and TOC Foundation have been proudly fighting at the forefront with civil rights champions represented by Mr. Connerly to establish an organized opposition coalition. In early July, CFER was officially authorized by the two minority leaders in the California Legislature to submit ballot arguments to the California Secretary of State.
Proposition 16 intends to restore racial discrimination and racial quotas in public education, public employment and government contracting. Fast-tracked in the California Legislature in May and June 2020, Proposition 16 uses lies and misinformation to promote the socialist agenda of equal results and legalized discrimination.
It is time that we unite to defend meritocracy and our children’s equal education rights in California. If it passes, Proposition 16 will set a corrosive precedent for a wave of legislative and bureaucratic attacks on equal treatment and civil rights in places like Washington, Florida, Michigan, Arizona and Oklahoma, among others.
Henceforth, we call upon the Asian-American community, AACE’s supporters and concerned citizens nationwide to support CFER’s campaign against Proposition16. You can contribute in several important ways:
Mr. Yukong Zhao, president of AACE said: “Prop 16 is a blatant assault on the American Dream which promises each American citizen an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative. Only with a unified front can we win this battle against Prop. 16 and its agenda of legalizing anti-Asian discrimination. Henceforth, I call upon all Asian-American organizations, other likeminded organizations and concerned citizens to unite behind CFER’s No on 16 campaign. We count on your valuable support to defend the American principles of equality, individual liberty and merit!”
Asian American Coalition for Education
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ms. Swann Lee, telephone: (617) 651-1328, email: swanleeca@gmail.com.
About the AACE: www.asianamericanforeducation.org
Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE) is a non-political, nonprofit, grassroots national organization, the proven leader in fighting for Asian-American children’s equal educational rights. On May 15, 2015, the founders of AACE united 64 Asian-American organizations and jointly filed a civil rights complaint with the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to request that they conduct investigations into Harvard University’s discriminatory admissions practices against Asian-American applicants. As the largest joint action taken by Asian-American communities over the last few decades, this complaint is now being investigated by the Justice Department. Over the years, we have advanced the cause of equal education rights for the Asian-American community.