Tom’s campaign needs donations and volunteers. To donate to Tom’s campaign, please visit Rodney Tom’s campaign website, and click the DONATE tab. You need to be an US citizen or green card holder to donate. There aren’t any restrictions, for anyone, on volunteer activities such as doorbelling, as long as they are performing a service that is not compensated by anyone. If you’d like to volunteer for Tom’s campaign, please sign up below, and we’ll be in touch. We’ll work with Tom’s team to get training materials if needed.

The information your provided below will be shared with Rodney Tom’s campaign team.

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We’ll first hear Mr. Carlson give us a talk, followed by a Q&A session. Please send your questions to us via our contact form .

To register for the meeting, please visit our Eventbrite site : Meet-and-Greet with Mr. John Carlson.

See you Saturday!

The post Meet-and-Greet with Mr. John Carlson appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

Sure enough, the article left out our data that contradict to those who support repeal of I-200 claimed. In our post that Repeal of I-200 Will Hurt Asian Americans in College Education , we listed data directly from UW’s website that one year after the passage of I-200, Asian American students enrollment went up 6%. We also provided data from National Center for Education Statistics that showed postsecondary enrollment closely mirrored racial demographic of general population.  The article left out our data, but quoted a 2006 study co-authored by UW professor Hirschman, and  funded by Andrew Mellon Foundation. Given UW’s long interest in repeal of I-200, and Andrew Mellon Foundation’s many grants to Affirmative Action projects, you’d question the objectivity of the study.

Still, I want to thank Northwest Asian Weekly for at least included our opposition voice, and also cited some of our data such as the ones from Princeton University’s study.

It took almost 3 weeks since I first contact NW Asian Weekly on February 26th and asked them to write an article on SB 6406 till the article finally appeared on the newspaper. Realized that they might publish an article without our voice in it, I sent Ms. Ruth two emails last weekend and urged her to include our voices in the article. Holding this article in my hands, although a bit biased, we trust readers’ judgement.

Update #1: I emailed Ruth regarding the missing data points, and got a polite email from her the next day. She invited us to write a comment and they “would be happy to print it”.

Update #2: Northwest Asian Weekly published our commentary this week.  Below is our commentary sent to Ruth.

“Proponents of repeal of I-200 tried to use the 2006 study to justify their cause. We’d like to add data that were left out in the original article to show that I-200 indeed benefits Asian American community.

According to UW’s own website, one year after the passage of I-200, “Asian American students planning to enroll (in the Fall 1999 freshman class) increased six percent (from 1,109 to 1,176)”. That was despite a slight dip in Asian American application rate in 1999, according to the same 2006 study. In other words, prior to the passage of I-200, UW’s racial quota policy in admission prevented Asian American students from being accepted.

The most recent data from National Center for Education Statistics showed that in 2014, among total postsecondary student population in Washington, 8.96% was Asian, 0.61% was Pacific Islander. During that time, 9.53% of the state’s general population was Asian, 0.66% was Pacific Islander, with other ethnic groups making up the remainder. Proponents’ claim that I-200 hurts AAPI in higher education is groundless. 

Senator Hasegawa called us, who oppose repeal of I-200, “privileged”. On the contrary, we all worked hard to achieve what we have achieved. We believe in education, we believe in merit-based systems that reward hard work. Education empowers our kids to get ahead. We want to fight for the equal education right for all AAPI students. NO repeal of I-200, no racial quota. In our opinion, the law should be reinforced, not repealed.”

The post A Tough Fight Against Media Bias appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

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What is I-200?

The Washington Civil Rights Initiative, also known as Initiative 200, was on the November 3, 1998, ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature, where it was approved. The measure prohibited public institutions from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. Voters approved the amendment by over 300,000 votes, making Washington the second state to enact such a measure. The approved ballot measure added a new section (RCW 49.60.400) to Law Against Discrimination (LAD), chapter 49.60 of Washington’s state code. RCW 49.60.400 , known and cited as the Washington State Civil Rights Act , states  “Discrimination, preferential treatment prohibited.”

University of Washington’s love of racial based admission

According to UW’s website, “For thirty years UW admissions decisions have taken race and ethnicity into account. In the fall 1998 freshman class, about two-thirds of the class-those with the strongest academic records-gained entry on the basis of grades and test scores alone. The remaining third was reviewed and admitted on the basis of several additional factors, of which race or ethnicity was one.”

Under I-200, the University can no longer use race or ethnicity as a “plus-factor” in admissions decisions. The result? One year after the passage of I-200, Asian American students planning to enroll in the Fall 1999 freshman class increased six percent (from 1,109 to 1,176). In other words, 6% of Asian American students were denied equal opportunity of getting into UW due to their race prior to I-200.  If we allow repeal of I-200 to happen so that UW can go back to use race and ethnicity in admissions decisions, Asian American students will once again be denied equal opportunity to get into UW due to their race.

The 2010 cohort of UW graduation data showed that Asian American students had the highest graduation rates at all three campuses. As an university, UW’s interest first and the foremost should be attracting the best, and most qualified students, rather than playing racial cards.

Source: National Center For Education Statistics

UW Seattle Campus

UW Bothell Campus

UW Tacoma Campus

Postsecondary enrollment in WA closely mirrored racial demographics in post I-200 era

The following table contains 2014 data from National Center for Education Statistics on the racial demographics of all higher education institutions in Washington as compared to the state’s general population. Among total postsecondary student population in Washington in 2014, 61.85% was White, 10.75% was Hispanic, 8.96% was Asian, 4.49% was Black. During that time, 65.75% of the state’s general population was white, 11.43% was Hispanic, 9.53% was Asian, 4.77% was Black, with other ethnic groups making up the remainder. Opponents’ claim that I-200 hurts diversity in higher education is groundless.  On the contrary, bringing back racial based admission policy, will definitely tilt the balance.

Finally, I’d like to end this post with thoughtful words from Mr. Ward Connerly:

[For me, one of the most troubling considerations about Asian discrimination is the tendency to excuse the argument that such discrimination is no big deal in view of the fact that Asians are so dominant, overall, when it comes to university admissions.

This argument, obviously, misses the most important point: The Constitution of the United States guarantees to every individual citizen a number of rights, to which we refer as “civil rights.”]

The post Repeal of I-200 Will Hurt Asian Americans in College Admission appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

At end of her article Ms. Raleigh said, “For far too long, Democrats have been taking Asian American votes and loyalty for granted. The Democrat platform is built upon redistribution of other people’s wealth and historical grievances. Asian Americans’ self made economic success and education attainment offer a clear rebuttal to such ideology. No wonder liberals now explicitly exclude Asians from their diversity outreach. Liberal policies have hurt more than benefited Asian Americans. It’s time Asian Americans take their loyalty and votes somewhere else.”

And yes, we are waking up. We will only vote for candidates that represent our values. We value Equal Opportunity.  We are watching 2018 Washington state election and tracking candidates’ position on key issues.

The post Asian American Voters Are Waking Up appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

20 years later, in 2018, Washington state legislators quietly introduced bill SB 6406 wanted to repeal I-200.  Last Wednesday morning, we managed to sat down with Mr. Carlson at a Belltown coffee shop to get his thoughts on SB 6406.

Our conversation started with I-200.  “It’s about principle, the most deserving should get the job, the most deserving should get into college. Bringing back a race-based admissions system would be divisive and wrong,” said Mr. Carlson. “Right now, almost 1 out of 4 students at University of Washington are Asian Americans. If I-200 is overthrown, Asian families will likely be the ones most hurt.”

We then told Mr. Carlson that Asian American community was ignored by WA legislators hence not able to testify against the bill at the public hearing. “The other side had the bill prepared and had lined up people to testify. I was the only one who testified against the bill, and that was because I was alerted by a concerned legislator. When politicians try to sneak bills through, they know they are doing something they should not be doing.” said Mr. Carlson. 

We pulled up the computer and discussed SB 6406 and several other bills (SB 6508, HB 2927). The word “Equity” was all over the places. “Equity is not equality. Equity means identity politics.” said Mr. Carlson. “We should be judged as individuals, not as representatives of a particular race, gender or nationality.”

We managed to put a brake on the bill’s passing in February, with grassroots efforts. Some legislators received over 900 emails opposing the bill in less than 48 hours. Our fight for Equal Opportunity for All has just begun. We thank Mr. Carlson for his thoughts and time.

We welcome people that believe our belief to join us to fight for Equal Opportunity for All.  Join Us!

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source: gallup.com

Gallup previously asked this question as part of its Minority Rights and Relations poll in 2003, 2007 and 2013, and Americans’ views since 2003 have held steady.

When asked to rank a list of nine factors that colleges and universities could consider when making admissions decisions, 63% saying race or ethnicity should not be a factor at all in admissions and only 9% saying that they should be a “major factor.” A majority of people answered the poll said that scores on standardized tests and the types of courses a student takes in high school should weigh heavily.

The post Polls show that “Most in U.S. Oppose Colleges Considering Race in Admissions” appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

[Troy Chen, a University of Washington student who attended Hasegawa’s event, said, “As a Chinese American, I support Bob who has dedicated his life to minorities and immigrants.” It’s good to see someone running the city with a progressive agenda and core values, Chen said.

“Voting to elect Seattle’s first Asian American mayor to me is an honor,” said Gei Chan. “Bob Hasegawa’s experience shows me he’s ready for the job.”]

Well, I wonder what Chen and Chan will think now knowing that Senator Hasegawa sponsored a bill (SB 6406) that will allow racial quota and preferential treatment in college admission, make it much much tougher for Asian American kids to get into state colleges.

Senator Hasegawa may be a Asian descendant . However, he does not represent Asian Americans. As a matter of fact, he does not care of Asian Americans. When questioned by Senator Mark Miliscia about the bill’s impact on Asian American community, he could not provide a straight answer. He demanded “show me”. Well, Senator Hasegawa, there have been plenty of data showing racial quota hurts Asian American kids’ chance in college and graduate school admission. Where are your data? “Show me”!

The post Senator Bob Hasegawa Owes Asian Americans an answer appeared first on WA Asians For Equality.

[For me, one of the most troubling considerations about Asian discrimination is the tendency to excuse the argument that such discrimination is no big deal in view of the fact that Asians are so dominant, overall, when it comes to university admissions.

This argument, obviously, misses the most important point: The Constitution of the United States guarantees to every individual citizen a number of rights, to which we refer as “civil rights.”]

If you have time, I encourage you to read the entire post. And other posts by Mr. Connerly. He wisely pointed out that “There is no moral outrage because the purpose of this discrimination (discrimination against university applicants identified as “Asian.”) – building diversity – is considered a noble one.  And, when discrimination occurs in the course of what is considered a noble endeavor, definitions invariably change.”

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