The term model minority refers to a group that has attained a significant level of success in contemporary American society. It is not affirmative action, but rather the appropriation of the model minority stereotype by groups like the SFFA that truly impairs Asian abilities to succeed. But Asian America is neither academically, nor ethnically, nor socioeconomically monolithic. To groups like SFFA, Harvard and other elite universities are in the wrong: higher standards for Asian Americans based only on their Asian-ness is racist. In effect, SFFA weaponized the model minority stereotype by claiming the superiority of Asian applicants’ test scores, and categorically placed every Asian American in a singular, high-achieving, cultural monolith. It failed to consider whether all Asians would truly benefit from the removal of race in admissions. SFFA rallied against affirmative action, and claimed that the removal of race in admissions would be the only way to restore fairness to undergraduate admissions.Īs an Asian American myself, what made me uncomfortable about SFFA’s claim that Harvard’s racial generalizations put Asian Americans at a disadvantage was SFFA’s failure to recognize that its own argument against affirmative action policies also generalized Asian America. In short, holistic admissions practices like indications of race were ways for Harvard to justify discriminating against Asian Americans by labeling them as deficient in personality traits, even despite their accomplishments. By indicating last name, race, or language(s) spoken in the home, Asian Americans risked being singled out by college admissions officers, thus being held to a higher standard than applicants from other racial groups. SFFA argued that because Asian Americans outscored all other racial groups in standardized testing and grade-point averages, but more Asian Americans were not admitted into Harvard, the school must have discriminated against Asian Americans. At the same time, the Harvard case is undergoing an appeal after district court judge Allison Burroughs ruled in 2019 that Harvard College did not discriminate against Asian Americans.Īs the Yale lawsuit and the recent SFFA appeal coincide, some of the original allegations deserve review. The DOJ claimed that Yale admitted more Black and Hispanic students at the expense of Asian applicants by making race too large of a factor in its admissions process. This accusation came after two years of investigation, and from an administration that publicly backed Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), a group which sued Harvard with similar accusations. On August 13, the Justice Department accused Yale of discriminatory practices in its undergraduate admissions process.
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