Week 3 - Jo Kawabata

Week 3

In Nancy Chung Allred's "Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again," the author discusse the issues surrounding the affirmative action system while it changed the perspective from the public of young Asian Americans aspiring higher education over time. I believe the truth is, while stats may show one thing or another, I do not think a certain individual's acceptance will be solely based on race. I will never be able to know whether my acceptance here into UC Davis was based on my race or on other factors such as experience and education. The fact is that I am here at UC Davis right now, not Harvard or not a "less prestigious" school than Davis; I just believe that it is up to me now to make the best of what I have. The point here is that while affirmative action may or may not be a roadblock to Asian Americans currently through the college application process; however, I do not believe that it ruins young Asian Americans' futures or dreams and it is up to each individual, no matter what institution they attend to be able to attain their dreams.

With that said, I can partly relate to a similar problem with the author. An article was published last year claiming UC schools to have made acceptance rates easier for outstate students in order to collect higher tuition from the outstate students. As an outstate student myself, I was a little shocked by the fact. However, at the same time, I was able to compare my academic success here at UC Davis to that of other students and I felt that I did see any marginal difference in performance. But the "outstate problem" continues for me. As an aspiring veterinarian, I want to attend UC Davis vet school in the future. After talking with a representative from the vet school, I learned that it is significantly more difficult to enter vet school as an outstate student. I was honestly very upset by the fact. While I understand a state school should support its own residents first, I would have spent 4 years in California before entering the school and felt I would have been in all way except legally a state resident. While it is not race dependent, I still felt this is a type of "discrimination" I may face in the near future.

This is an image or protesters outside of the Supreme Court during the Fisher v University of Texas case. The article, cited below, argues that affirmative action does help Asian Americans but the parents of Asian American students don't realize that. I think it is very important to educate the general public on this issue so students pursuing higher education fully understand their position.

Question:
As the diversity of the country continues to grow, I feel it will become more imperative that students with potential will be able to receive the education they deserve. Wouldn't it be more fair to begin a class-based affirmative action, like the Allred wrote in the end of her passage as diversification of race will come naturally?

Work Cited:

Allred, N. C. (2007). Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model  Minority and Back Again. Asian American Law Journal, 14, 57-84.

Guillermo, E. (2015, December 10). As SCOTUS Hears Affirmative Action Arguments, Asian American Advocates Weigh In. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/scotus-hears-affirmative-action-arguments-asian-american-advocates-weigh-n477806