As 2022 comes to a close, we bring you our last e-newsletter of the year encapsulating some of CAA’s most recent work.
Despite the fact that Asian Americans are the fastest growing group of eligible voters, during these past midterm elections candidates and traditional media outlets continued to overlook our communities. Organizations like CAA have filled the gap with culturally and linguistically sensitive community education. We issued a voter guide, organized candidate forums, and our Chinese Digital Engagement team countered right-wing election disinformation on WeChat.
CAA, as one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, continued to challenge the hate and discrimination targeting our communities, especially with respect to political scapegoating. We debunked the false narrative of the model minority myth as the Supreme Court began hearing cases on affirmative action. And our Immigrant Rights and Economic Justice teams continue to provide services to the community as we face the pandemic with more pandemic. Will you help us continue the work we do into the new year? Make your contribution today.
Keep reading for more information about our current efforts.
Governor Newsom Appoints Cynthia Choi to the Commission on the State of Hate
This fall, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed CAA Co-Executive Director Cynthia Choi to the new Commission on the State of Hate in California. The Commission is tasked with fact-finding and researching hate activity, providing resources to government officials on how to respond to hate as well as reduce it, and hosting community forums on the state of hate. The first meeting of the Commission took place on December 1, 2022. You can watch it here and also sign up to receive notices and updates from the Commission.
Onwards and Upwards | Midterm Elections Results
Reproductive freedom was on the ballot this midterm elections, and California voters voted Yes on Prop 1 by a wide margin, sending a strong message to the rest of the country that abortion is a fundamental right and no institution, including the Supreme Court, has the right to restrict access. On state ballot measures, other CAA’s endorsements passed including Prop 28 to increase funding for school-based arts & music education. For local San Francisco issues, we were heartened that voters supported CAA-endorsed Prop A (retiree adjustment), Prop F (library funds), Prop G (K-12 student success), Prop H (even-year elections), Prop L (public transit), and Prop M (residential vacancy tax) while rejecting Prop D (reducing affordable housing). We were disappointed that Prop O, which would have resourced City College of San Francisco with funds for ESL courses and workforce training, lost at the ballot box.
Onwards and Upwards | Fighting Disinformation During the Midterms
Our Chinese Digital Engagement (CDE) team continued to counter right-wing disinformation targeting Chinese language communities on WeChat, YouTube, Telegram, Twitter, and more. Much of the harmful narratives circulating in the Chinese community push conspiracy theories around election fraud, mirroring disinformation on the English-side. In particular, CDE debunked an English-language flier aimed at Asian Americans and paid for by a group led by former Trump advisor and anti-immigrant strategist, Stephen Miller. It spread false and misleading information attempting to drive a wedge with other communities of color. These right-wing narratives are funded by deep pockets, making it difficult to combat their spread.
Onwards and Upwards | Affirmative Action & Supreme Court
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the future of affirmative action in cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. Edward Blum, the right-wing architect behind these and other anti-civil rights cases, once again exposed himself and his goal of reversing decades of progress for racial justice and his willingness to exploit Asian American concerns about education. We expect a decision from the Supreme Court in June 2023. Regardless of the outcome of the court’s ruling, CAA will continue to champion education equity because the stakes for a diverse democracy are so high. You can read this op ed in the Los Angeles Times by CAA’s Sally Chen.
Community Spotlight | Forum on Anti-Asian Hate
Stop AAPI Hate and Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA) co-sponsored “From Adversity to Advocacy: A Stop AAPI Hate Conversation in Orange County” on October 22, 2022, with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. The event convened elected officials from across all levels of government to hear directly from impacted community members with lived experiences of anti-Asian hate. They also shared recent challenges and solutions to interpersonal and structural violence. This is the second convening with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus after an initial event in San Francisco, which you can view here.
Community Spotlight | CAA Board & Staff Retreat
In November, CAA board and staff came together at Crissy Field Center near the newly-opened Presidio Tunnel Tops. We welcomed new Board members Janine Zhu and Rory Zia to CAA. Special thanks to Beckie Masaki for facilitating the retreat and Dr. Karen Korematsu for leading a wonderful tour of the exhibition “Exclusion” at the Presidio sharing her father Fred Korematsu’s story challenging Executive Order 90166.
On the Frontlines | International Migrants Day Celebration
This month, CAA celebrated International Migrants Day with our partners and immigrant community members at the San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network. From the 400 migrants who lost their lives for the World Cup 2022 in Qatar to the perilous journeys across the seas in Europe, migrants are being forced to leave home due to climate change, violence, conflict, and poverty. Here, in the United States, over 850 migrants have died crossing the U.S. and Mexico border since October 2021, by far the largest number to perish at the southern border. CAA’s Immigrant Rights program provides immigration services and in-language monthly virtual and audio workshops to assist the most vulnerable in our community.
On the Frontlines | How CAA’s Economic Justice Team Helps Clients
CAA’s Socrates Li shares his personal experience working with low-income, limited English proficient clients at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Socrates’ work at CAA is part of a long history of CAA supporting immigrant and low-income communities through direct services. When CAA began in 1969, one of its first campaigns was to ensure that the newly opened Holiday Inn (now a Hilton Hotel) would hire local workers. This was an early example of our affirmative action work. CAA secured wins on the hiring front, and then conducted workforce services to get local community members into the jobs that we had advocated for.
