In the Name of God, the Indiscriminately Merciful, the Intimately Loving
Our public colleges and universities are meant to be spaces of academic growth, personal development, and community building for all Californians — however we have seen time and time again that access to these spaces has excluded some of our most underrepresented communities. Since California banned affirmative action 25 years ago through Prop 209, our state’s ability to implement race-conscious equity programs in our institutes of higher education has been crippled and has ultimately negatively impacted women and students of color. Proposition 16, a ballot measure in the November 2020 election seeks to right decades of inequity by restoring affirmative action in California. MSA West endorses Proposition 16 and strongly encourages our students and allies to vote Yes on 16 this November.
As a statewide organization working with thousands of students from diverse backgrounds across California college campuses, we recognize that Prop 16 would benefit the entire state by increasing the enrollment of Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and Black /African American students in our institutions of higher education. Since the passage of Prop 209, there has been a significant decline in the enrollment of Underrepresented Groups (URGs) across public colleges and universities in California, including at least a 12% decline in the enrollment numbers across the UC system. This lack of opportunity is a form of structural racism that perpetuates inequality in our society by preventing access to education for some of our most marginalized communities.
We must name the issue we are facing in order to be able to effectively address it. In this case, when we have identified an issue of underrepresentation of racial groups in our educational system, the solution is not to ignore it and hope it is somehow resolved, but rather, we should create policies and procedures where we are able to actively create race-conscious solutions that correct for inequities in our current systems. Restoring affirmative action in our institutions will be a step in the right direction to correct the mistakes of the past two decades by enabling our colleges and universities to consider an applicant’s gender and race experiences in the admissions process and increase representation of these groups as students, faculty, and staff in higher education.
As Muslim students, it is our obligation to stand for justice and equity in our society. Proposition 16 will begin to restore equity and create stronger institutions of learning that include a multitude of perspectives and experiences that are reflective of the diverse communities of our state. We stand with the Black students at UC Berkeley who have long been advocating for the repeal of Prop 209 which has now become the Proposition 16 ballot measure, and the many organizations and institutions who have answered the call to support. We call on the Muslim and student community in California to uphold the principles of equity and justice that we stand for and join us in voting Yes on Prop 16.
In solidarity,
MSA West
