Prop 1 NYs Equal Rights Amendment ballot measure may discriminate against Asian students: critics

A proposed referendum on New York’s ballot touted as protecting abortion rights could end up discriminating against Asian American students vying for seats in the city’s merit-based high schools, opponents said Wednesday.Nearly two dozen Asian American parents and legal activists took issue with Proposition 1 — the “Equal Rights Amendment” — that will go up for a vote on Election Day, during a rally at City Hall.“We’re going to find ourselves in the courts fighting this,” said Wai Wah Chin, past president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York.Chin called the language in the Nov.5 ballot measure “deceptive,” and said it would lead to “reverse racism” against Asian American students who disproportionately earn spots in New York City’s specialized high schools.Section B of the proposed constitutional amendment states that: “Nothing in this section shall invalidate or prevent the adoption of any law, regulation, program, or practice that is designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination ….”One legal expert said that this language could open the door for the state to engage in so-called reverse discrimination against Asian or whites who are not considered protected class minorities.“Under Paragraph B, discrimination becomes a New York State constitutional right provided the discrimination is ‘designed to prevent or dismantle discrimination,'” said Cornell University law professor William Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project.“This embeds what is commonly referred to as ‘reverse discrimination’ into the New York State Constitution,” Jacobson said at the rally.“This is the language of Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and would create a DEI exception to the anti-discrimination laws in New York State,” he added.

“Such ideologies have no place in the New York Constitution and are contrary to our tradition of protecting individuals from invidious discrimina...