I Am (Sometimes) a Minority

My Response to Affirmative Action

(TEDDY LI) — Please watch this following video first.

When I first watched this video, it brought me to reevaluate myself. The video is eloquently spoken to say the very least. Undoubtedly, the video has brought forth a strong response as all opinions on volatile topics such as race, religion, and values would bring. But as I watched it for the second time, I couldn't help but wonder whether Affirmative Action is inherently fair.

Affirmative Action was instilled to help equalize races in higher level institutions. Meant to address, specifically, the discrimination of African Americans in the 1960s, Affirmative Action sought to include. Instead, it facilitated the creation of quotas and other tactics of reverse discrimination meant to exclude.

Affirmative Action currently has legal basis and precedence in courts as a practice that is meant to empower minorities and sort of “level” the playing field between unfair opportunities. (NOTE: Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, an African American justice, believes the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment specifically prohibits practices such as Affirmative Action)

Affirmative Action is NOT a practice used to help low-income students get into better colleges and better positions. The only determinant for Affirmative Action is RACE. It is not your parents’ or your income level, poverty level, or education level. In our society of equality, we are practicing reverse discrimination and the ACLU supports it.

According to TIME Magazine and the American Psychological Association, Asian Americans must have SAT Scores of about 140 higher than their counterparts in the same school. SAT has been heralded as a testament to how hard the student studies. It’s not so much a measure of intelligence but a measure of work ethic. SAT Scores must be much higher, on average, for Asian Americans to attend the same college. In other words, hard work of a collective bunch not rewarded but is punished. I don’t believe there is any “superior race” in any part of life — education, work, family life, etc. However, the use of Affirmative Action will continue to perpetuate the differences between the work ethic of different ethnicities. Many highly qualified students in the Asian American community seem to be excluded on the basis that colleges need more diversity. But if you look at the numbers closely, Asian Americans are hardly ever the “majority” in any case. The argument that college acceptances should parallel the population of the country is simply unethical, un-American, and ludicrous.

I am an Asian American. I often joke with my friends regarding the amount of extra work I must put in to be comparable to someone who is different from me by only their skin color. With record lower acceptance rates across the board, it is easy to dismiss a dwindling, population as racism. It is important to note that all races are experiencing lower acceptance rates. There are simply more people applying for the same small number of spots.

Somewhere along the lines, Asian Americans as well as many other races became persecuted. Rather than level the playing field, Asian Americans must much harder. Why are we chosen based on race? Why can’t we be chosen race-blind? Is being born to Asian parents really a burden for millions of Asian Americans? My parents raised me to have a work ethic, to have an ambition, and to understand that life isn't a bowl of cherries. We’re not given anything and hard work is the only way to yield fruits.

Having a diverse school or workplace does not mean lowering standards. There are plenty of hardworking people of all races who succeed based on merit. On the other hand, there are plenty of Asian Americans who don’t work hard and fail as a result. People should be evaluated based on their work given what they have. Affirmative Action should be gone. The ONLY acceptable form of preference should be purely income-based. Even that, should not make or break any single person’s application for jobs or schools.

Do we still recognize what merit is? Simply rejecting more qualified students in hopes of increasing diversity should not be happening. The government provide free housing, free healthcare, free transportation to those in poorer locations. It has been noted that subsistence living is not really “living.” However, many students in poverty schools study and work as hard as they can to succeed and lead better lives for their family and friends.

I thought we, as a society, have progressed to stray from persistent racism. I thought we, as a society, have grown to recognize what blatant racism is.