The California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC) was created to protect the public and regulate a profession that thousands of Californians depend on. But instead of serving that mission with equity and accountability, it has evolved into a regulatory body that too often excludes the very people who built the industry: Asian immigrants.
From Chinese and Thai practitioners to Vietnamese massage therapists, Asian Americans make up a majority of the licensed massage workforce in this state. And yet, they are consistently underrepresented on the council’s board, over-scrutinized in the certification process, and denied a meaningful voice in decision-making. What we’re witnessing isn’t just individual bias — it’s structural discrimination operating behind closed doors.
Shut out by CAMTC
Earlier this year, I was nominated to serve on the CAMTC board. I wasn’t entering as a symbolic candidate — I brought relevant experience, community ties, and a clear vision for how the council could better serve the diverse workforce it regulates. I was also the only Asian American nominee.
I was never allowed to present my qualifications. There was no interview, no public discussion, no chance to speak. Instead, the board quietly awarded the seat to a white male candidate who had previously served — and whose attendance record, according to public documents, was deeply lacking.
The process wasn’t just flawed. It felt predetermined. And for the thousands of Asian practitioners who look to CAMTC as a gatekeeper to their livelihood, that should be alarming. When a board makes decisions in silence, without input, and with no demographic reflection of its industry, that’s not governance. That’s exclusion.
Pattern profiling disguised as procedure
Unfortunately, my experience is not isolated. In 2024, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California filed a lawsuit against CAMTC on behalf of six Chinese and Thai massage students who were denied certification despite completing their required training. The reason? They were subjected to arbitrary English language interviews, which were vague, inconsistent, and unrelated to actual massage skills.
These interviews weren’t applied universally. They were disproportionately used against immigrant applicants. And in doing so, CAMTC created a second tier of scrutiny — one for white applicants, and another for Asian ones. That’s not about public safety. That’s a textbook example of regulatory profiling.
When a board makes decisions in silence without input and with no demographic reflection of its industry, that’s not governance. That’s exclusion.
When these cases were brought to light in The Sacramento Bee, it became clear that what many in the community had long suspected was true: CAMTC operates with built-in bias with very little accountability to the public.
Public power without public oversight
CAMTC is structured as a private nonprofit. But in practice, it functions like a government licensing board. It determines who can practice massage therapy in California. It can deny certifications, revoke licenses, and effectively shut someone out of their profession.
That level of power demands transparency and public oversight. But CAMTC has neither.
It holds authority over an immigrant-heavy workforce without reflecting their voices in its leadership. It shields its decision-making from the public. And it evades the checks and balances we expect from any institution with such sweeping influence over people’s economic futures.
This is a dangerous loophole in California’s regulatory system: a body that acts like a government agency but avoids government accountability.
Asians built this industry and deserve to be heard
This fight isn’t about representation for its own sake. It’s about fairness, access, and dignity. Massage therapy has long been a pathway to survival and stability for working-class Asian families — many of whom operate as small business owners, independent contractors, or first-generation workers. The profession is a cultural and economic cornerstone in communities that have historically had to make their own way.
To be treated as suspect because of an accent, a last name, or an immigration background is not only wrong, it is corrosive to public trust.
The facts are clear. CAMTC’s leadership does not reflect the demographics of the workforce it oversees. Its decisions consistently marginalize Asian applicants. And its processes from board appointments to certification protocols lack transparency and basic procedural fairness.
Equal standards, transparency, and accountability needed
Asian Americans are not asking for special treatment. We’re demanding the same rules, the same respect, and the same opportunity to contribute to our professions and communities. That means:
– Ending arbitrary language interviews that target immigrants.
– Opening up board appointments to community input and public transparency.
– Auditing CAMTC’s certification practices through an independent state review.
If CAMTC wants to operate with government-like authority, then it must also accept the responsibility that comes with it. Until then, its legitimacy is in question.
The bottom line
We built this workforce. We are the majority. And we will not be sidelined by an unaccountable board operating in the shadows.
CAMTC doesn’t get to erase us while claiming to protect the public. If the courts don’t fix it, the community will through organizing, storytelling, and a refusal to be silent.