Reading Reflection #3
Melody Ly
Section A01
April 11, 2015
When I was younger, I would think about the spectrum of color among the humans - black, brown, yellow, and white. When discussion about race would rise, I often only heard black and white. Naturally, I thought brown would belong to black and the yellow to white because they most resembled that end of the scale. After having read Michael Omi and Dana Y. Takagi’s article, however, it is clear that where you belong on the spectrum is relative to the other people involved.
In the case of affirmative action, Asian Americans can be viewed as victims of the racial preferences in the 1960s therefore against the policy. If the group linked itself with the “white” side, they were anticipated to benefit from the end of the policy with higher college admission rates. Asian Americans were also viewed as one of the non-white minorities that should, in solidarity with the blacks and hispanics on the “colored” side, champion for the system. It’s hard to answer Gary Y. Okihiro’s question: “Is yellow black or white?” The correct answer should be that yellow is yellow, but it seems there has to be one side or another. I might be jumping ahead of time and unleashing my inner flower child wishful thinking, but hopefully one day we can talk about granting young adults the access to higher education without having to make it a debate about color.
Are Asian Americans going to be a permanent fixture between two opposing sides in the battle of race?
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