Bill > AB7

This bill would allow California State University, University of California, independent institutions of higher education, and private postsecondary educational institutions to provide admissions preferences to applicants who are descendants of slavery, as long as doing so does not conflict with federal law. The bill specifically defines a "descendant of slavery" as an individual with direct lineage to a person subjected to American chattel slavery before 1900, who meets one of several criteria: being legally emancipated through various means (such as self-purchase or legislative action), obtaining freedom through abolition statutes, being classified as a fugitive from bondage, being deemed contraband by military authorities, or rendering military or civic service while subject to legal restrictions based on ancestry historically associated with slavery. This proposed legislation aims to provide educational opportunities for individuals whose ancestors were enslaved, while attempting to navigate existing constitutional prohibitions against preferential treatment based on race or ethnicity by carefully defining eligibility based on historical familial experience.

Budget and Finance, Education, Justice

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB7