Sunday, April 13, 2014

Affirmative Action's Amplification of Racism

Cheyne Fujimoto
ASA2
Blog 3
Response to "Situating Asian Americans in the Political Discourse on Affirmative Action by Omi and Takagi

The article approaches the issue of affirmative action's effects on an expanding Asian student population. The article is very apparent in its observations that the issue has more than two polarized viewpoints; in particular, the article addresses various comparison to other racial issues as well as its political implications. I perceive that the form of racism represented in the article against Asian-Americans is beginning to become more exclusively apparent in the academic fields (particularly those leading to "white-collar" careers) in the form of affirmative-action directives.

I almost feel that the Asian-American, because of his or her historical ethnic presence in the United States for many decades and beyond, is becoming far more typecast as the type expected to take the slots in universities. But why should it matter if an ethnic group becomes the majority in a university if they contribute equally to society? Perhaps the only way to truly begin making race a much less prominent factor in social positioning is for the current and future generations to actively reject the stereotypes that bud from generalizations of ethnicity.

Question: Why do studies and political arguments constantly focus on test scores when considering racial issues in education when individuals of all races have credentials beyond them?
The figure above shows a graph of a sample percentage of Asian student enrollment in select universities, showing how Ivy League universities may have implemented some threshold on Asian student enrollment.

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