So everyone has seen
this article in the Washington Examiner about Asian American kids who don’t check the Asian American box when they apply to college. I’m sure everyone has differing opinions about whether or not race should play into college admissions and whether or not this is unfair to Asian Americans. On the latter point, I think no one, regardless of race, is going to suffer terribly because they can’t go to an Ivy League school—the go-to-a-name-brand school mentality we have in this country is kind of unhealthy. Though maybe as the daughter of Asian American kind-of-like-hippies-but-they-thought-hippies-could-be-racist-sometimes parents, I’m biased.
But are all Asian Americans really hurt by affirmative action? And how does the way we talk about this reveal our biases about race and what “Asian Americans” are?
What bothered me most was this article’s explanation as to why there are so many Asian Americans on college campuses…by quoting Amy Chua. My heart is breaking:
“’Chinese parents can say, ‘You’re lazy. All your classmates are getting ahead of you,’” Chua wrote. “By contrast, Western parents have to struggle with their own conflicted feelings about achievement, and try to persuade themselves that they’re not disappointed about how their kids turned out.’
Of course, not all Asian-Americans fit this stereotype. They are not always obedient hard workers who get top marks. Some embrace American rather than Asian culture. Their economic status, ancestral countries and customs vary, and their forebears may have been rich or poor.
But compared with American society in general, Asian-Americans have developed a much stronger emphasis on intense academic preparation as a path to a handful of the very best schools.”
I love how this article quotes a woman who makes sweeping generalizations about “Western” versus “Chinese” parents, then admits that this is a generalization, but then states the generalization is true because Asian Americans and their “emphasis on intense academic preparation.” Comes to close to saying that all stereotypes about Asian Americans are true (even though they’re stereotypes). Also, what does “Some embrace American rather than Asian culture” mean? What is “Asian culture”? Not sure if we all knew this, but Asia’s a huge continent. Also, why can’t Asian American cultures be part of the larger American culture? What is American culture if you exclude “ethnic” cultures? Just white?
And while there are some Asian groups who on average immigrate with more money and become overrepresented at the colleges like Yale, not every Asian American group is overrepresented. If all these groups share the same “Asian” culture, which pushes them to excel, then why aren’t they all “successful?
I think all this article proves is that we need to re-approach how we talk about Asian Americans and affirmative action before we start the conversation again.
