Asian-Americans and Conflicting Opinions on Affirmative Action

Response to "Situating Asian Americans in the Political Discourse on Affirmative Action" (Week 3 Reading)
Post Date: April 12, 2014

This research paper describes the arguments involving Asian-Americans and their relation to affirmative action. The classification of races and ethnicities remains a complex task. With the racial grouping of Asian-Americans, some individuals have created differing arguments about where Asian-Americans stand in terms of affirmative action. One particular stance, known as the “right,” argues that Asian-Americans are victims of being discriminated by affirmative action, thus allying with Euro-Americans. A different stance, known as the “left,” argues for affirmative action and claims that Asian-American students will be supported. This perspective utilizes a common interest within how Asian-Americans want to support other minorities, including African-Americans and Hispanics. However, Asian-Americans struggle with different issues in a hegemonic society run by Euro-American beliefs and understandings. This paper states that Asian-Americans would probably be the only group to benefit from this policy shift, forcing other minority groups to suffer under a decreasing acceptance rate into colleges.

This paper has helped me realize how complex race relations are, especially since there are multiple manners of describing and understanding the social and political complexities involving race and ethnicities. I am somewhat intrigued by the question of what happens if Asian-Americans make up the majority of a college campus, considering how Asian Americans are a minority in terms of of America’s population, but this racial group makes up around 40% of Davis’ undergraduate population. In addition, in my ASA004 class, some classmates have shared anecdotes over how affirmative action would have helped or harmed their chances of being admitted into Davis. These anecdotes reveal how affirmative action can be perceived from varying perspectives and how this factor can cause harm to potential college students.

Question: How are the various ethnic groups within the umbrella term “Asian-American” affected by affirmative action? The UC Davis Fact Sheet (June 2012) is an interesting resource to look at for thinking about this question.

Posted By: Eric Yu
Section A01

Some individuals are protesting against Proposition 209, which would prevent Affirmative Action being a factor during admissions processes for college. Picture from LA Times, Opinion Section. [Original Caption: The California Legislature is weighing a proposal to exempt state public college and university admissions from the Proposition 209 ban on affirmative action. Above, protesters are seen in San Francisco demonstrating against Proposition 209. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)].