In Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again, Nancy Chung Allred analyzes the position of Asian Americans with respect to affirmative action and other minorities, where Asian Americans are the only minority group that suffers at the hands of affirmative action. As the “model minority,” Asian Americans are expected to perform much better than their peers, and so when compared with other Asians, the mean score is set very high. As a result, for example, if a group of people take an exam to be considered for admission somewhere, Asians will have to score higher than other ethnicities need to in order to seem exceptional. This resonates with me very well because I am an alumni of Mission San Jose High School, a top public school with a demographic of 80% Asian and high average SAT and AP exam scores. Because colleges look at applications with respect to the high school’s average performance to find relatively exceptional students, I am at a disadvantage that is similar to affirmative action. Even if affirmative action is not within the agenda of the college admission board, because the school has a widely Asian demographic, it has a widespread Asian academic culture, and students are influenced by other peers to do better in school, resulting in higher exam scores. In effect, all students at the school regardless of ethnicity are expected to perform better. This makes me realize that although the idea of comparing a student’s scores to the school’s average has good intentions of giving students from poorer schools a chance, it still has its flaws in that it makes it harder for poorer students at more esteemed schools to do well. If the school is doing well largely due in part to its ethnic makeup, it transforms the problem into one of affirmative action, whether the admissions board is aware of it or not.
As for my opinion for OiYan Poon and Ajani Byrd’s article, I was lucky enough to have 1.5-generation parents who, through the “failures” of my elder brothers, lowered their expectations for me and were satisfied as long as I went to college. Because of that, I feel that, contrary to the conclusion, despite my parents being educated at an American college, my parents’ opinions were not a significant influence on my college pathway. But, in the end there are many factors that can play larger roles than parental opinion when it comes to students’ college decisions.
Question: Because some high schools directly control their demographic makeup, how can college admissions work with high schools to offer fair admission chances?
Media: I chose this video because it was the video that I can relate the most to with regards to this week’s theme, and it was one of the videos that keeps me at peace despite all the issues Asian Americans face with their parents in academics. There are many major factors besides parental opinion when it comes to students’ college decisions.
References
Allred, Nancy Chung. Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model
Minority and Back Again, 14 Asian Am. L.J. 57 (2007).
More Wong Fu. REJECTED FROM COLLEGE?! - Lunch Break! (2016, April 7). Retrieved April 13, 2017 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1HnmQ3_32A
Poon, O and A Byrd. "Beyond Tiger Mom Anxiety: Ethnic, Gender and Generational Differences in Asian American College Access and Choices." Journal of College Admission, 2013.
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