Section A01
Week 2
In “Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again”, Nancy Chung Allred talked about affirmative action and used Lowell High School to exemplify the controversies. As a recent graduate from Lowell High School, I can see both sides of the argument regarding affirmative action and am still trying to formulate my own stance on it. As the reading mentioned there are two justifications for affirmative action-- to mend past discrimination and to insure a more diverse student body. In terms of creating a more diverse population, I definitely understand why affirmative action can be beneficial. Throughout my high school career, I was mostly surrounded by other Asian students and did not interact with many others of different backgrounds. Thus, it is more difficult to get a variety of perspectives in school since many of us came from similar backgrounds. Regarding getting admitted to school for academic reasons, I am not exactly sure where to stand since I have witnessed how much effort students put in order to get into Lowell. These students made sure to do the best they could in all their classes and do more work than what was required. Moreover, many parents expect nothing less of their child then to go to Lowell, since it is seen as a pathway to prestigious universities. I can only imagine the feeling of disappointment students and their supporters feel if the students get rejected due to their ethnic identity. Furthermore, even though many students did have a strong foundational background, these smart students faced a lot of struggle in their journey throughout Lowell. Thus, if affirmative action were to still continue, those who would be accepted “solely” due to the quota may have an even harder time maintaining a good grade point standing. This is why some of my former classmates who went to Lowell do not support affirmative action. Others that I have talked to, especially those who are from other high schools, believe that because many students of different backgrounds were not exposed to the same resources, they could not achieve the same accomplishments as others who were exposed. I also understand this point of view. In conclusion, I am still deciding what I believe is the best solution to this problem and would like to hear more from both sides.
Question: Is affirmative action present in other countries? If so, are the institutions that implement it achieving their goals successfully?
Allred, N.C. (2007, January). Asian Americans and Affirmative Action: From Yellow Peril to Model Minority and Back Again. Asian American Law Journal, 13, 57-84.
Tiao, M. (2017, May 24). Lowell High School Students by Ethnicity 2017. Retrieved from https://thelowell.org/159/features/beyond-the-myth-asian-americans-challenging-stereotypes-of-the-model-minority/
No comments:
Post a Comment