{"id":582978,"date":"2023-07-16T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/asian-american-lawmakers-split-over-end-to-affirmative-action\/"},"modified":"2023-07-16T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T10:00:00","slug":"asian-american-lawmakers-split-over-end-to-affirmative-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/asian-american-lawmakers-split-over-end-to-affirmative-action\/","title":{"rendered":"#Asian American lawmakers split\u00a0over end to affirmative action"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276ad710e68\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276ad710e68\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/asian-american-lawmakers-split-over-end-to-affirmative-action\/#More_on_the_affirmative_action_ruling\" >More on the affirmative action ruling<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/07\/affirmative_action_SCOTUS_supreme_court_11022020_AP_.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The end of affirmative action, which followed a lawsuit brought by an organization that said Asian American and white students were being discriminated against, has highlighted the starkly differing viewpoints of Asian American lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p>While some are warning Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students will face additional challenges in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lying to elite institutions, others are celebrating the end of what they say were discriminatory practices.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The\u00a0Supreme Court\u2019s\u00a0rulings\u00a0last month\u00a0against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, backed by\u00a0six conservative justices, are expected to dramatically change how college admissions work, effectively ending race-conscious considerations.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) expressed discomfort with how the cases essentially pitted different Americans of color against one another, with advocates for ending race-conscious admissions arguing the policies benefited Black, Latino and Native Americans at the expense of Asian Americans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chu said she was \u201cdeeply distressed\u201d by the court\u2019s decision, noting Asian Americans are not a monolithic group, and the decision would hurt certain Asian Americans and other minority Americans \u201csystematically denied equal opportunity in education.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a community college professor for 20 years, I know that students learn best when they encounter diversity in the classroom,\u201d Chu, chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, told The Hill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chu added it was \u201cextremely upsetting\u201d that Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) founder Ed Blum \u201cshopped around\u201d for Asian Pacific Islanders after his previous attempt to overturn affirmative action using white women failed. In 2015, Blum <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/07\/02\/1183981097\/affirmative-action-asian-americans-poc#:~:text=But%20Blum%20was%20already%20looking,%22I%20needed%20Asian%20plaintiffs.%22\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/07\/02\/1183981097\/affirmative-action-asian-americans-poc#:~:text=But%20Blum%20was%20already%20looking,%22I%20needed%20Asian%20plaintiffs.%22\">told a group<\/a> gathered by the Houston Chinese Alliance that he needed \u201cAsian plaintiffs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe used AAPIs as the victims in his subsequent lawsuit,\u201d Chu said, pointing out he did not name an Asian American or Pacific Islander plaintiff in the case or put such a student on the stand.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Still, polls suggest Asian Americans have varied views about affirmative action.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/race-ethnicity\/2023\/06\/08\/asian-americans-hold-mixed-views-around-affirmative-action\/\">A June poll<\/a>\u00a0conducted by Pew Research Center found that 53 percent of Asian American adults who had heard of affirmative action said the policy was a good thing; 19 percent said it was a bad thing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Seventy-six percent, however, said race or ethnicity should not factor into college admissions decisions.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_on_the_affirmative_action_ruling\"><\/span>More on the affirmative action ruling <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">Proponents of affirmative action argue it helps to create a diverse campus environment, or that the policy helps ensure disadvantaged students have access to elite instructions like Harvard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI especially am cognizant of the fact that there are AAPI\u2019s that can definitely benefit from affirmative action because we know that if you look at the great diversity amongst us, that Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders are very much disadvantaged in terms of being able to get a college degree,\u201d said Chu.<\/p>\n<p>For Thang Diep, a 2019 graduate of Harvard, affirmative action meant his background as a Vietnamese immigrant \u2014 which prevented him from accessing certain resources \u2014 was considered.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIn my [college application] essay, I wrote about learning English and being an immigrant and navigating this new strange world,\u201d Diep told The Hill. \u201cBut in high school, I didn\u2019t have the necessary private college counselors. I had to look up resources online about college applications and how to write my personal statements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After graduating from Harvard, Diep learned many Southeast Asian American students struggled with the same challenges he faced. Affirmative action, he said, helped schools take these challenges into consideration when looking at applicants.<\/p>\n<p>In the comments from his application, Diep was praised for characteristics including his modesty, his personal standards and his friendliness \u2014 even as the application noted his SAT score fell \u201con the lower end of the Harvard average.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Harvard\u2019s application system places emphasis on \u201cpersonal\u201d scores meant to gauge qualities such as maturity, leadership and kindness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This, the SFFA argued in its case, is why Asian Americans were admitted in much lower numbers: Asian American applicants had high test scores, but stereotypes that label Asian Americans as emotionless or robotic counted against them. Removing these \u201csoft\u201d criteria to focus only on merit would end that discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) wrote in an op-ed for The Hill\u00a0that the Supreme Court case was about empowering Americans of all backgrounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cTelling students that their race matters more than their merit is a dangerous message that encourages racial discrimination,\u201d Kim wrote. \u201cThese out-of-touch policies keep the American dream out of reach for hardworking Americans, including many in the AAPI community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She added that she is a proud Korean American whose story reflects that of many other immigrants. But, she said, she did not get where she is because of her race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am here because I worked my butt off to achieve the American dream and am fighting every day to keep that dream alive for future generations,\u201d Kim said. \u201cCollege boards determining whose family story they deem more appealing than another is not reflective of the country that welcomed my family and me.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/steel.house.gov\/media\/press-releases\/steel-applauds-end-affirmative-action\">issued a statement<\/a>\u00a0lauding the court\u2019s decision as a \u201cnew chapter in the fight for equality in education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI immigrated to this country from Korea when I was 19 years old to pursue an education,\u201d said Steel. \u201cI am living my American Dream because, in this country, your actions determine your success \u2014 not your race and ethnicity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor 40 years, American colleges and universities have stacked the deck against Asian Americans in the name of diversity,\u201d Steel continued. \u201cAs a nation, we believe, as taught by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that every human should be judged \u201cnot by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said the court\u2019s ruling \u201cwillfully ignores\u201d the way race has historically played a part in American society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRather than achieving what they conceive that somehow they were establishing some sort of colorblind justice, they\u2019re willfully ignoring the way race consciousness has been a part of American history since before the Republic was founded,\u201d Takano, who graduated from Harvard in 1983, told The Hill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey used Asian Americans as a tool, as a fig leaf, for this and I did not appreciate being used that way as an Asian American,\u201d Takano added.<\/p>\n<p>In filings, the SFFA specifically called out Black and Latino students, stating Harvard engaged in unlawful \u201cracial balancing\u201d by holding Asian American applicants to higher standards than Black and Latino students.<\/p>\n<p>Diep said he does not believe other nonwhite students have taken spots away from any Asian American student.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very strategic for \u2026 Edward Blum and his organization to use Asian Americans, specifically using Asian Americans who fit into the model minority myth, or the stereotype that Asian Americans get good grades, and use them as a wedge to divide our communities of color,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very strategic that they don\u2019t highlight the Southeast Asian experience, that Southeast Asians don\u2019t have access to these resources,\u201d Diep added. \u201cI think it\u2019s very strategic to highlight only a subset of Asian Americans to then pit against other communities of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Affirmative action opponents say the practice places Asian American applicants at a disadvantage because it requires them to score extremely high on tests.<\/p>\n<p>In 2009, a study by Princeton University reported that those who identify as Asian had to score 140 points higher on the SAT than white students and 450 points higher than Black students to have the same chance of admission to private colleges.<\/p>\n<p>But in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cew.georgetown.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/cew-selective-bias-fr.pdf\">a 2021 report<\/a>\u00a0by Georgetown University\u2019s Center on Higher Education and the Workforce, Asian Americans accounted for 65 percent of students who scored 1300 or above on the SAT and applied to one of the most selective colleges in the country. Twelve percent of Asian American students who scored below 1300 on their SAT still applied to one of the most selective colleges, compared to only 5 percent of non-Asian American students.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The results, according to the report, indicate that because of the rate in which Asian American students apply to selective colleges they are more likely to be denied admission at higher rates, too, which is not indicative of bias on the schools\u2019 part.<\/p>\n<p>The report also found that if schools revert to a test scores-only admissions system, 21 percent of Asian American students would lose their admissions to the nation\u2019s most selective colleges to students with higher test scores \u2014 compared to 39 percent of non-Asian American students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see newer immigrant groups, certain segments of the AAPI community, who come from countries that may be attuned to the idea that admissions tests or tests associated with admissions somehow are connected to merit,\u201d Takano said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see in South Korea, Japan, China have very test-centric admissions processes. Holistic admissions is just not part of how admissions is determined in many of these countries of national origin and there is that sort of bias. A lot of investment goes into test preparation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Critics of the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling argue that ending affirmative action will make college campuses less racially diverse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In an amicus brief filed last year, California acknowledged that the effects of ending race-conscious admissions saw a drastic decline in minority student admissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The state \u2014 which ended race-conscious admissions in public schools, governmental bodies and public systems after voters approved Proposition 209 in 1996 \u2014 reported in 2021 the University of California, Berkeley\u2019s freshman class included only 258 Black students and 27 Native American students out of a class of 6,931.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The brief also emphasized enrollment in the entire UC system declined has among minority students, and Black, Latino and Native American students \u201cwidely report struggling with feelings of racial isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chu told The Hill she is \u201cvery concerned\u201d these trends will expand across the nation now.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to make sure that we have rigorous oversight of the federal agencies that combat discrimination in education,\u201d Chu said. \u201cWe have to give guidance to all these institutions on how they can promote diversity in higher education. I also am pledging along with our Tri-Caucus partners, to persist in securing federal funding for the minority-serving institutions, including Asian American Minority Serving Institutions. We must continue to do outreach to communities of color.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/race-politics\/4098042-affirmative-action-asian-american-lawmakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The end of affirmative action, which followed a lawsuit brought by an organization that said Asian American and white students were being discriminated against, has highlighted the starkly differing viewpoints of Asian American lawmakers. While some are warning Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students will face additional challenges in applying to elite institutions, others&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":582979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/07\/affirmative_action_SCOTUS_supreme_court_11022020_AP_.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[74776,144509,134343,134661,136505,143551,71404],"class_list":["post-582978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-affirmative-action","tag-asian-americans","tag-campaign","tag-energy-environment","tag-judy-chu","tag-race-politics","tag-supreme-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}