Tues 6/16: Tell your state senator to vote “YES” on ACA 5, and bring back Affirmative Action.

Quote from Harvard Law School professor Dr. Randall Kennedy

Action:  Call your CA state senator and say you want them to vote “YES” on ACA 5.

25 years ago, CA voters approved Prop 209, which prevented our state, one of only eight, from taking active measures to prevent discrimination and ensure equality of opportunity. A pandemic has inadvertently exposed one result of that long-ago vote to light…African-Americans in California are twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as whites. 

ACA 5 successfully passed through Assembly with 60 votes and tri-partisan support. It will be heard tomorrow (Wednesday 6/17) in the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee, of which our state senator Hannah-Beth Jackson is a member The hearing will begin at 9 am and you can watch it here. It’s time for a new generation of voters to repair the damage done by the last one. And it’s time for our legislators to give them that opportunity.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to know that it’s important to me that [she/he] approve ACA 5 as one step towards increasing racial equality.

Contacts:
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 email
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Deeper Dive

The same objections to Affirmative Action from back in 1996, in fact, from 1866, still exist now. In the video below, Harvard Law School professor Dr. Randall Kennedy examines those arguments and lays out cogent answers to why Affirmative Action is both necessary and legal, and, more importantly from a moral sense, why it should be considered reparational. His lecture, which is about 20 minutes long, as well as the audience questions & period, are very interesting and informative.

ACA-5 talking points and supporter statements