Sacramento: Vote No! on Racist AB 1726

The California Democratic Party is no longer democratic.

Instead of listening to the needs and concerns of the
citizenry, of their constituents, they heed the interests of power brokers in
Sacramento, whose sole interest is consolidation of power.

Consider the rushed legislative push for SB 3, Mark Leno’s
forced minimum wage hike. In six years, the base wage imposed on all
businesses, regardless of where in the state, will be $15.

Within hours of 
casting the necessary votes for this terrible, job-destroying, future
killing bill, a number of assembly Democrats received huge payouts from the
state labor unions.

Including Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland).

Who knows which special interest Bonta is trying to placate
or please with his latest legislative nullity AB 1726.

On its surface, AB 1726 is designed to segment
Asian-American residents into more specific categories, as if to recognize the
greater diversity of the rich panorama of Asian communities in the state of
California.

One of Bonta’s press releases plays up the importance of this measure:

"Each of our
diverse communities has unique social, economic, and educational needs that
must be addressed differently. Instead of lumping many API [Asian Pacific
Islander] communities together under the catch-all 'other Asian' category, the
AHEAD [Accounting for Health and Education in Asian Pacific Islander
Demographics] Act would identify API subgroups that are being left
behind."

Since when was it the government’s job to target which “groups”
need help to get “ahead”? Have we not learned enough from the last fifty years
that any group of people targeted for government subsidy only gets worse?

This legislation already fails to consider the growing
number of half-Asian, half-other Californians, otherwise known as “Hapas”. In
the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, a growing number of residents share
half-Asian, half-Caucasian heritage. Many within that set style themselves
foremost as Americans. This state needs to go forward in rewarding hard work
and culture successes.

Bonta’s initial press release for AB 1726 continues:

"Beyond each race and ethnicity box is our community's
fight for self-determination for our community's needs and unique strengths to
be revealed, not concealed, by transparent data systems.”

Self-determination for … communities? Shouldn’t the power of
self-determination focus on individuals?

This measure is just another cheap move to segregate people into
government dependence. I do not see the state legislature looking to divide
white Californians into more distinct subsets, nor African-Americans or
Hispanics.

Why the targeting of the Asian vote?

Perhaps liberals fear the growing rift among Asians with the
Democratic Party.

By and large they are pro-life, pro-family (marriage defined
by one man and one woman). A diligent work ethic defines many Asian
communities.

In 2013-2014, Asian-Americans worked tirelessly to stop SCA 5, which would have reintroduced affirmative discrimination back into higher education.
The backward policy still remains a platform mainstay for the California
Democratic Party. In 2014, partly because of the inherent discrimination latent
in the Democratic Party, Asians broke for Republicans in larger numbers, and
now they are split 50-50 Democrat v. Republican.

The California legislature has a larger number of Asian
representatives … in the Republican caucus. 
Assemblymembers David Hadley (R-Torrance) and Catharine Baker (R-Dublin)
specifically reached out to Asian-American communities, assuring them that
merit—not race—would determine enrollment in college campuses. Their success
politically has protected the academic achievement of all Californians,
particularly Asian-Americans.

Peter Kuo, a candidate for the 17^th Congressional
District (also located in East Bay/Oakland area), shared further concerns about
AB 1726:

“This malicious bill strives to
subdivide the Asian American community into smaller subgroups: Bangladeshi,
Hmong, Indonesian, Malaysian, etc. 

“We strongly question the real
intent of this bill hidden under the apparent disguise of “addressing the
diverse needs of the Asian Americans”, according to Mr. Bonta. We are very
concerned that these demographic data, if gets collected by government agencies
and state universities, will be used unlawfully in order to advance
racial-profiling oriented public policies.

“We are deeply troubled by the
divisive, offensive and abusive nature of this bill. If this bill is really
good for the people, then why not universally apply this subdivision method to
all Californian residents?

“It is not new to us that the
educational rights of Asian Americans are being under constant attack from our
representatives in the California legislature.

“In summary, as Asian Americans,
all we ask for is “fairness and equal treatment”; NOT being “singled out and
forced to accept special treatment” from state government agencies and public
universities. It is our firm belief that the racial-blind merit-based
principles, whether applied to governmental hiring, contracting or college
admissions, are the best ways to achieve this goal; while dividing people into
ever smaller ethnic subgroups and later pitching one group against another is
doing exactly the opposite.”

When will Sacramento Democrats learn that California
residents not only prize the ethnic diversity of their state, but more
importantly honor the individual skills and development of each person?

Perhaps assembly members like Rob Bonta need to review and
relearn the hopes and dreams of Martin Luther King Jr: “I have a dream, that
one day my children will no longer be judged by the color of their skin, but the
content of their character.”

African-American policy expert Ward Connerly forced out
affirmative action by ballot initiative twenty years ago. Governor Brown vetoed a similar bill last year!

It's time for our legislators to move past this.

If lawmakers want to improve education and health for all California students,
they should stop trying to divide them according to race, stop looking
backwards for solutions.

School choice, expanded economic opportunity, limited
government, free market reforms in education and medicine will ensure a golden future for all Californians.

Please contact your state representatives, and tell them “Vote
NO! on AB 1726”.