A California Democrat of Japanese descent said he was targeted by black and Latino Democrats because he opposed a bill that would have attempted to re-institute affirmative action in the state.
Even though the University of California system has admitted a record number of Hispanics, the Latino caucus has vowed to try to re-institute affirmative action and declared doing so is one of their top legislative priorities.
After California Democrats pulled SCA 5, which would have paved the way for a ballot initiative to re-institute affirmative action, the Sacramento Bee noted that there were “racially tinged reprisals” against Democrats of Asian descent:
A group of Latino and African American lawmakers informed Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, they were withdrawing their support for his congressional run. And African American and Latino lawmakers withheld their votes from an unrelated bill by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, allowing it to fail on the floor.
Muratsuchi’s bill was a “totally unrelated measure that aimed to expand the number of low-emission vehicles allowed on high-occupancy vehicle lanes.”
“I feel I was targeted because of my race,” Muratsuchi told the Bee.