Black Lawmaker Proposes California Bill that Would Allow Public University Admission Priority for Slaves’ Descendants
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From [HERE] A Black lawmaker introduced a bill Monday to allow admission priority to the descendants of slaves at the University of California and California State University, two of the largest public university systems in the nation.
Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles and authored the legislation, said it would help rectify past and current discrimination at universities.
“For decades universities gave preferential admission treatment to donors, and their family members, while others tied to legacies of harm were ignored and at times outright excluded,” Bryan told The Associated Press. “We have a moral responsibility to do all we can to right those wrongs.”
Lawmakers also convened a special session Monday to consider ways to protect the state’s progressive policies ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
In California, voters approved a ballot measure in 1996 that banned the state from giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, ethnicity, color or national origin in public employment, education or contracting. The proposition, which outlawed affirmative action in public university admissions in the state, was upheld by voters in 2020. Bryant's legislation would permit, but not mandate, preferential admissions treatment for the descendants of slaves. [MORE]
