Man, this was an awesome post. I wonder why the pro-AA people in this argument didn't respond to it? Was it because the facts show that Affirmative Action allows URMs to take the spots of some non-URMs? Anyway, I want to start off by saying that I am East Asian, and that after reading this thread, as well as the other thread on the MD forum, that many of the arguments that pro-AA people give are complete BS. First of all, you guys talk about how hard it is to be a URM (black or latino), and how none of us know how hard it is to be one? Um...have you considered how freakin' hard it is to be an Asian American? We're (generally) not blessed with the size and athleticism of blacks to be able to dominate in sports and any other physical activity, nor are we blessed with having lived in this country for many generations (as numerous blacks and hispanics have). In addition to racism and discrimination that we face from white people, we have to deal with being bullied by blacks and hispanics for not speaking English and coming from a foreign country. Therefore, the only thing Asians have going for us is hard work and our wits. A lot of non-Asians think Asians WANT to work hard and we're successful in the United States because our parents are rich and had an education. Um...my dad was a waiter and worked in a print-copy company AND went to school full-time at a community college for many years before he was able to get a license and establish his business in America. How many blacks, whites, and hispanics do you see doing that? How much pride do you think my father had to swallow and how much did he have to sacrifice so that his kids can have it good in the United States? I know generalizations are not always true, but generalizations and stereotypes are based off of truths. I accept the fact that people call Asians cheap and physically weak, because it's generally true. Most Asians are cheap and (at least in the United States) physically weak. But the thing is that our Confucian cultural values allow us to succeed through respecting our parents, loving our families, valuing education, and working hard. This is why despite being behind for many decades, East Asia is finally on the rise again and why there are so many successful Asian Americans in this country.
The one thing non-Asians NEVER mention when talking about Asians is that there are, indeed, poor Asians in this country. Look at the thousands of poor Chinese and Vietnamese kids in Chinatowns throughout the country, whose parents work at dead-end jobs like sewing clothes for sweat-shop pay in dark basements, being waiters at restaurants, etc. These children have just as few opportunities for good early (elementary school, middle school) education and whose parents probably have less money than blacks and hispanics but find a way to succeed through their own hard work.
It pisses the crap out of me when URMs bitch an moan about how slavery in the 1800s affected them, or how they're not getting a fair shot in life. Um...why don't you look at Asian Americans? Many of us come to the United States with no money and shed blood and tears for countless years before (if you're lucky) being successful. Instead of spending our money on Air Jordans and gold jewelry, we put our money in the savings account so that we can pay for our kids' education. The last time I looked, the libraries at my top-20 univeristy wasn't filled by hispanics and blacks, but mostly by East and South Asians. Do you think we WANT to spend hours on end studying for biology or saving all our money so that we can't buy decent clothes? We would rather be out in the world doing other things. But the fact is that racism and discrimination both in the educational system and out in the job market forces us to work harder than everyone else. Affirmative action hurts us big time in schools, and racism/discrimination in the job market hurts us out there, so we don't really have a choice but to work hard in academics. In fact, I think the reason why whites (who run this country) even allow affirmative action to exist is because they feel guilty for having slavery, divide minorities apart, and because it's a way to hold Asians down (since it doesn't really help URMs). Quotas are used to suppress Asian enrollment in higher education the same way they were used to keep the number of Jews in universities/medical schools down. The fact that it still exists for Asians seems racist to me. I mean, is it a crime that so many Asians work hard and apply to medical schools? If it were by merrit only, there would be more than 19% Asian enrollment in medical schools.
So yes, it is extremely unfair that Asians have to work 2x as hard as people from other ethnicities just because of our skin color. I think affrimative action does nothing to help blacks and latinos, as shown by the evidence that there hasn't been a rise (or an insignificant one) in URM enrollment in professional schools or universities. The only thing that can help is adopting a culture that values education and family over rap/street-culture. I mean, what good is affirmative action when there aren't enough URMs who are actually in college or even high school to use it? Yes, it is undoubtedly tragic the economic woes that many blacks and hispanics go through, but it's mostly from improper guidance through their early years of life. So instead of affirmative action, we need to implement some other changes upstream. I long for the day in which Asian Americans won't get screwed by the system, in which we use applicant IDs to apply instead of names so that they can't see that you're Asian (i.e. Chang, Sameer, Wong, etc.), and that the race box will be done away with. I also hope that there will be more Asian American managers, large business owners, and politicians. I'll do all there is in my power to get rid of racial affirmative action once I graduate college, but since it's here now, I hope AA extends to sports so that I'll have other people besides Yao Ming to look up to
Oh, and one last thing, if you think racism in the US is rough, you should try being an oppressed minority in Eastern European or East Asian countries, and see if complaining to the government would help you any. I think racism in the United States will never end. Caucasians (generally) will always look down upon minorities, and the only thing we can do is work hard and fight to pass laws that end in equality for all people (i.e. using applicant IDs instead of names for both work and school to make acceptance totally color-blind).
You win the award for the most steroetypes in a single post in SDN history.
