- Mar 11, 2015
- 77,328
- 34,832
- 2,330
Supporting Affirmative Action as the Daughter of Asian-American Immigrants
Kylie Cheung
The issue of affirmative action, and fostering societal recognition of the educational and moral value of diversity in higher learning, is one that is near and dear to my heart as we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month this June.
As an Asian-American woman and the daughter of two immigrants, I would never deny or undercut the oppression that those who share my heritage have faced and continue to face in this country. I’m perfectly cognizant of the racist laws, discriminatory court rulings, and treatment Asian immigrants have been subjected to in this country. Like all people of color, our experiences in America are fundamentally, irrevocably different from those of white people — but our experiences are also in many ways different from those of Black and brown people, and it’s critical that we are able to acknowledge this.
Asian-American immigrants have historically faced the same poverty and hardship of nearly all people of color in this country. My parents came to the US with almost nothing — and yet, they also did not come with intergenerational debts; incarcerated family; perceptions and stereotypes of them as dangerous, criminal, or lazy; and other experiences that disproportionately affect some minority groups more than others.
To that end, research has shown how racism affects Black Americans’ access to every aspect of their living standards and what they are able to provide for their families, such as housing, employment, car insurance, and health care, to name a few. In addition to how racist policing, police violence, and mass incarceration have devastated Black and brown families and communities for generations, studies from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, ProPublica, and others reveal overwhelming evidence of everyday discrimination affecting their economic prospects, too. One famous study found white Americans with criminal histories were more likely to be hired than Black Americans without criminal histories; another found car insurance companies offered lower rates to customers from white neighborhoods than customers from Black neighborhoods, despite comparable risk in both communities.
As for Black and brown youth, jarring double standards occur early on: Black students are more likely to face more severe disciplinary action for the same acts as white students, and Black youth are more likely to be targeted by police.
Affirmative action has always been plagued with misconceptions that condescend to the achievements of certain racial minority groups — and often Black people, in particular — by suggesting that race is the only reason certain individuals would receive admission. Many continue to ignore how affirmative action is merely the treatment of race, and the diversity of experience and worldview that often go hand-in-hand with it, as one of many considerations in admissions.
In either case, the narrative that affirmative action “hurts” Asian-American students is not a new one, nor a particularly nuanced one in consideration of how many different groups and communities this demographic encompasses; some groups of Asian-Americans have among the lowest college attendance rates in the US. And among groups of Asian-Americans coming from wealthier or more privileged backgrounds, in order to stand in solidarity with other people of color, we must acknowledge how our experiences are not always equal — or, at times, even close to equal — with those of Black and brown people.
Supporting Affirmative Action as the Daughter of Asian-American Immigrants
Kylie Cheung
The issue of affirmative action, and fostering societal recognition of the educational and moral value of diversity in higher learning, is one that is near and dear to my heart as we celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month this June.
As an Asian-American woman and the daughter of two immigrants, I would never deny or undercut the oppression that those who share my heritage have faced and continue to face in this country. I’m perfectly cognizant of the racist laws, discriminatory court rulings, and treatment Asian immigrants have been subjected to in this country. Like all people of color, our experiences in America are fundamentally, irrevocably different from those of white people — but our experiences are also in many ways different from those of Black and brown people, and it’s critical that we are able to acknowledge this.
Asian-American immigrants have historically faced the same poverty and hardship of nearly all people of color in this country. My parents came to the US with almost nothing — and yet, they also did not come with intergenerational debts; incarcerated family; perceptions and stereotypes of them as dangerous, criminal, or lazy; and other experiences that disproportionately affect some minority groups more than others.
To that end, research has shown how racism affects Black Americans’ access to every aspect of their living standards and what they are able to provide for their families, such as housing, employment, car insurance, and health care, to name a few. In addition to how racist policing, police violence, and mass incarceration have devastated Black and brown families and communities for generations, studies from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, ProPublica, and others reveal overwhelming evidence of everyday discrimination affecting their economic prospects, too. One famous study found white Americans with criminal histories were more likely to be hired than Black Americans without criminal histories; another found car insurance companies offered lower rates to customers from white neighborhoods than customers from Black neighborhoods, despite comparable risk in both communities.
As for Black and brown youth, jarring double standards occur early on: Black students are more likely to face more severe disciplinary action for the same acts as white students, and Black youth are more likely to be targeted by police.
Affirmative action has always been plagued with misconceptions that condescend to the achievements of certain racial minority groups — and often Black people, in particular — by suggesting that race is the only reason certain individuals would receive admission. Many continue to ignore how affirmative action is merely the treatment of race, and the diversity of experience and worldview that often go hand-in-hand with it, as one of many considerations in admissions.
In either case, the narrative that affirmative action “hurts” Asian-American students is not a new one, nor a particularly nuanced one in consideration of how many different groups and communities this demographic encompasses; some groups of Asian-Americans have among the lowest college attendance rates in the US. And among groups of Asian-Americans coming from wealthier or more privileged backgrounds, in order to stand in solidarity with other people of color, we must acknowledge how our experiences are not always equal — or, at times, even close to equal — with those of Black and brown people.
Supporting Affirmative Action as the Daughter of Asian-American Immigrants
