Affirmative action definitely isn’t a perfect solution for racial injustices. However, it does curate a diverse student body. The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that the noble Federal District Court Judge Burroughs this past week upheld the goals of affirmative action in a case regarding Harvard University’s admissions.
Since 2014, the Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative action non-profit, has used Asian Americans to dismantle race-conscious college admissions through lawsuits like these. In their duplicitous crusade, they are taking advantage of a vulnerable group, jaded by its exclusion from the race conversation. For those of us who have been in the US for multiple generations, the ulterior motives here are clear.
Yet, I understand the plight of Students for Fair Admissions. Rumors and the admissions information released during this case suggest that Asian Americans are disadvantaged during college applications on the basis of their heritage. For immigrant parents who came to the U.S. in search of better opportunities, it must be frustrating to learn that a place like Harvard — the pinnacle of the American dream — punishes their children for overcoming obstacles.
This apparent punishment is worsened by how college admissions can treat Asian Americans as a monolithic model minority, that is, a minority that is more successful than the majority. That treatment is dehumanizing, to say the least. It reifies misinformed beliefs that we’re followers — one-dimensional and painfully average.
The idea of “model minorities” doesn’t acknowledge that within Asian American culture there are disadvantaged sub-groups that deserve to be uplifted. In addition to this broad-stroke view, affirmative action appears to not award Asian Americans in correct proportions to their achievements. Instead, it favors “less accomplished” recruited athletes, those on the special-dean’s list and legacy students.
Reductive blanket statements like that are fueled by self-interests and our anger against these injustices are understandable if considered in a vacuum. However, when groups like this ask to dismantle affirmative action for a so-called “pluralistic society,” they are saying so with an insider’s point of view — someone who has never suffered from systemic inequality.
I’m tired of being used as a racial pawn to uphold the white American status quo.
Asian Americans are approaching this educational diversity fight all wrong. We can’t compare traumas and if we do, we’re reinforcing the false-equivalency of non-white disadvantage. To be frank, we would be foolish to think that all racial minority groups are equally disadvantaged. I might have limited upward mobility and not be able to access the C-suite easily, but an African American has a significantly harder time just breaking into the corporate world.
We might be at a disadvantage compared to whites, but we are also a very privileged minority compared to blacks – especially East Asians.
This lawsuit isn’t just about who gets what in the numbers game of college admissions. It’s about what it means to be Asian American and how as one of the most privileged racial minority groups, we can be allies for racial justice. Black and Latinx students aren’t taking spots that we’re overqualified for and to think that way strengthens our role as a racial wedge. These are the people who have a legacy of disadvantages that makes them the fairest targets of affirmative action.
Asian Americans shouldn’t be in a bind where we feel that our opportunities are being traded off because some sort of societal reparations are due.
So instead of supporting this boondoggle of a lawsuit, let’s defend affirmative action. Let’s openly attack prejudices against Asian Americans, internalized and imposed. But let’s understand that we are not victims of affirmative action.
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