Contrary to common belief, the rejection of affirmative action is not new.

Proposition 209, passed in the state of California in 1996, banned the use of affirmative action involving race-based or sex-based preferences in the operation of public employment, public education and public contracting. Proposition 16 (2020) tried to repeal 209 and failed.

Amazingly, this came from a blue state that was the first to realize how social justice activists were using “equity” to compromise the legacy of American success based on excellence and meritocracy.

Initially, all were convinced that equality of opportunity through affirmative action was a noble undertaking. No one anticipated that such an initiative would be transformed into a tool for implementing equity of outcomes and quotas that excluded Asians, as Kenny Xu described in his book, “An Inconvenient Minority.”

Affirmative action became the attack dog against Asian American excellence and their fight for meritocracy.

With our large population of Asians, Hawaii should understand the dark side of affirmative action and thank the U.S. Supreme Court for its thoughtful decision.

Joe Tanaka

Aiea

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