Vincent Pan, executive director of the San Francisco civil rights organization Chinese for Affirmative Action and co-chair of the ACA5 campaign, noted that Asian Americans have suffered from systemic racism in the United States for more than 100 years, including laws limiting their ability to immigrate and to own property.

“We’ve always stood alongside other communities that have been oppressed by systems of white supremacy and patriarchy,” he said. “We’re not interested in making this just an Asian American issue. This is something that’s about equality for everyone.”