Week 3 A03 Don Elijah Atienza

    The reading Asian Americans and Affirmative Action - From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again by Nancy Chung Allred was particularly interesting. It describes the history and the debate over affirmative action as well as the struggles Asian Americans face due to the "model minority" myth. This article had very good points regarding affirmative action in particular. Affirmative Action, which was originally meant to benefit disadvantaged people (Asian Americans), became the source of heated debate due to higher education enrollment. These debates are giving rise to talks on getting rid of affirmative action entirely, however this may be the wrong course of action because as Allred says it can prove detrimental to the Asian American community in the long run.
    Affirmative Action arose at the height of the Civil Rights movement where equality became of utmost importance to the American people. Who knew that it would give rise to struggles that Asian Americans face today. Admissions to universities becomes more difficult every year and I know because me, my siblings, and my friends have experienced this. I concur with Allred in that even though Affirmative Action generally benefits a disadvantaged community it raises certain standards and expectations of said community. In order to obtain the benefits of going to university, our community as a whole has to compete amongst each other to get there. It is a sad reality that young Asian Americans of not only our generation, but future generations will face.

Because of this, I ask the question: What alternatives can we look to that utilizes the good intentions of Affirmative Action, and still recognizes efforts of all students going into higher education?

This image sums up what Allred describes in terms of who gets enrolled into university. I also thought that this image is a good representation of why there is a debate regarding Affirmative Action...

References:

1. Affirmative-Action-Cartoon [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://reappropriate.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/affirmative-action-cartoon.jpg

2. Allred, N. C. (2007). Asian Americans and affirmative action: From yellow peril to model minority and back again. Asian Am. LJ, 14, 57.