<p>I really want to be slammed or praised by someone. :)</p>
<p>When I think of Asian parents, I think of conservative, narrow-minded helicopters hovering over their kids until death. Parents who have a false image of success, and believe that harsh discipline and strict control is the best way to raise children. They miss the importance of freedom, creativity, trial-and-error, and evolution of society. This is the image of MOST asian parents i think of.</p>
<p>As for Affirmative Action, yes I do agree with you. We are all human beings and we need to stop dividing ourselves into different races. BUT, you cannot simply admit people into college based on their academic strengths. If this was done, then people at lower ends of the economic pyramid would be put at a disadvantage. So Affirmative Action should be an effort not to create racial diversity, but rather economic diversity, this being the more prominent contributor to an individual’s background.</p>
<p>I get much of what you are saying. I even agree with some of it, because it is very true that Asian Americans have faced hard ships historically in America. But so has every other Minority Group. I do, however, have a bit of an issue with your declaration that Asians are “not as poor as African Americans/Hispanics” because "THEY CARE ABOUT GETTING EDUCATION. THEY CARE ABOUT IMPROVING SOCIETY. THEY CARE ABOUT HAVING A HEALTHY FAMILY. " Are you saying that the other Ethnic Minorities in America… don’t?
Because that’s untrue. That’s dead wrong.
and I would be remiss if I did not mention that just because a minority is “rich” or well to do does not mean that they lack diversity. Hispanic, African American, and, yes, even Asian Culture is not based on what tax bracket you are in. So you may go a predominately white school: So that means what, you “technically” are white on the inside? No, you are still a different race that most of the people you see daily. And that, alone, gives you a different perspective that many people who are applying to Top Schools. Affirmative Action was never a cheat, or a backdoor for less capable applicants. It was a way to try to bypass racism that was, and, is very alive and well in this country. People may think that Affirmative Action is unfair. But I think it’s unfair that in most of the “Top Schools” the most you’ll see is a 7% African American group, an 8% Hispanic, 25% Asian and 48% Caucasian. That doesn’t seem Diverse at all to me, even with the supposed cheat of Affirmative Action.</p>
<p>“BUT, you cannot simply admit people into college based on their academic strengths.”</p>
<p>I don’t think students of any race are admitted to top colleges solely based on academic strengths. </p>
<p>“Affirmative Action was never a cheat, or a backdoor for less capable applicants. It was a way to try to bypass racism that was, and, is very alive and well in this country. People may think that Affirmative Action is unfair. But I think it’s unfair that in most of the “Top Schools” the most you’ll see is a 7% African American group, an 8% Hispanic, 25% Asian and 48% Caucasian. That doesn’t seem Diverse at all to me, even with the supposed cheat of Affirmative Action.”</p>
<p>It’s unfair that students who have worked harder, sacrificed more, and who want a “top college” education more than you can imagine, are rejected in favor of less qualified students because of their ethnicity. No matter how you slice it, affirmative action is unfair. I only have personal experience to draw upon from school and life, but I don’t think societal discrimination against blacks or hispanics is anymore rampant than discrimination against asians or indians.</p>
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How is this relevant to the topic of Affirmative Action? You are the one who’s narrow-minded for believing in the false image constructed by the media.</p>
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But isn’t Affirmative Action racism against those who don’t benefit from it?</p>
<p>I suggest putting white, simply assuming that that is the culture you were generally raised in (not badmouthing other cultures, just making an assumption, please don’t flame me). Or possibly Jewish, but I’m not sure if there is a spot for that.</p>
<p>As an Asian American, a guy came to this country about 30 years ago with a one-way ticket for my Ph.D. program and $200 dollar in my name; may I put in my two-cents?</p>
<ol>
<li>It is true that folks from Asia were discriminated against when the railroad was built. </li>
<li>It is also true that Asian culture put extreme emphasis on education. You are expected to do your best to go as far as you can in schooling.</li>
<li>Before the Chinese, there were Jews from Europe who dominated in college entrance exams and with high GPA’s. Holistic review of candidates was started as a result of an attempt of “leveling the playing field”. This is nothing new and we live with it.</li>
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<p>I have no issue of follow the rules of the game. However, I wish to ask one question: What if we decided that we start the Affirmative Action on the Basketball court?</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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<p>If there is such a thing as a White culture, I’m not sure what it is.</p>
<p>Sorry about that. What I meant was for the little check boxes on the common app under race, she should put white. Sorry again.</p>
<p>“But isn’t Affirmative Action racism against those who don’t benefit from it?”</p>
<p>Lets say we were back to the Era where blacks had to go to different schools and drink from different water fountains, ect.</p>
<p>It may surprise you to know this was only 50/60 years ago.</p>
<p>Many top schools have been open for hundreds of years, and most all participated in this discrimination.</p>
<p>Many hispanics in this country are incredibly hard workers from disadvantaged areas (especially recent migrants from mexico and central america) who if they are qualified to enter a institution, will provide a new perspective on life and the diversity that colleges love.</p>
<p>Now, what colleges see when they look at an asian student is one who was pushed all his life by helicopter parents who are obsessed with prestige, i am not saying i agree with this stereotype, but when asian students have nothing to offer beside soul-less overachieving, it makes them less desirable to colleges.</p>
<p>Finally, if you were the president or provost of Berkeley, would you take kindly to slurs such as “University of China at Berkeley” due to your massive amounts of asian students, especially when colleges love to market diversity?</p>
<p>Asians are only slightly discriminated against in college applications.</p>
<p>Consider the following:
Asians overrepresent themselves by 300 PERCENT at Harvard, 550 PERCENT at MIT, and similarly 300%+ at other HYPSM. Whites UNDERREPRESENT at about 70% at HYPSM as a proportion to the US population. You tell me who is hurt by affirmative action.</p>
<p>For the record, I am from Africa and am engaged to an Asian woman. I have travelled to Asia three times. Without question, the most open and intense discrimination I have ever felt occured when I was in Asia. From the “Darkie” toothpaste I saw in the markets to being repeatedly referred to as a “black devil” to the common occurence of seeing mothers move their children away from me in subways and other public places, the discrimination was blatant. I wasn’t even allowed to meet some of my future in-laws, given how much they despise the thought of their kin marrying a black man. So excuse me if I don’t feel too sorry for the “racism” suffered by Asians in the US. </p>
<p>Those Asians in the US who are raised by parents who sacrfice all to see that their children achieve academically and are given every opportunity to succeed, please consider yourselves fortunate. You neither need nor deserve any boost in the college admissions process. Your upbringing is your affirmative action. </p>
<p>URMs do not operate on the same educational playing field as many Asians and whites. Why this is true is subject to intense debate. Personally, I fault the African American culture for most of this, but that’s another thread. Regardless why is it true, the fact remains that it is true. We can either address it or ignore it. American universities have chosen to address it through affirmative action. The system is flawed and inherently racist on many levels, but what is the alternative? The only alternative I see is a higher educational system stacked with students who come from families whose cultures value education (mostly while and Asian students), while students whose families do not are not given the same access to education. Although I am not a fan of affirmative action, I am even less of a fan of the alternative.</p>
<p>As for the cries of many who would like to see the system focus on socieo-economic factors and not race, the problem is that many people hide their wealth. My future in-laws are very wealthy, but on paper they make sure they appear anything but rich. They hide cash income generated at their businesses and run home expenses througth the business. Their tax returns reflect a lower middle class income, but the reality is much different. How does a system based on socieo-economic factors deal with small, successful business owners whose tax returns may not reflect true income status? In other words, no system is perfect.</p>
<p>I’m just going to quote what I said in another thread:</p>
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<p>shawnwhite303- There is an underlying mistake in your argument. Are you trying to say college admissions affirmative action is to repay a race for previous wrong doings or to bring diversity to a campus. Surely its number two, to bring diversity to a campus. Therefore your argument about Asian Americans being discriminated against in American History is void- Every group of immigrants has been discriminated, and some much more then others, and affirmative action in college admissions doesn’t seek to alter what happened in history. Try again.</p>
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<p>Those are intriguing statistics. It goes back to what I was saying earlier: that since so many Asians apply and the number of applicants are so disproportionate to the % of Asians in the US, no top college is going to accept them at a high rate.</p>
<p>I’d love to see how underrepresented us Hispanics are lol…</p>
<p>^ Intriguing statistics which mean nothing. I once again pose the question, why should the elite US institutions model their incoming class on the racial makeup of the United States as a whole?</p>
<p>What about me? I’m from Antarctica! How underrepresented are we? haha</p>
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That’s disturbing. FUUCKING bittches, that has made me so angry cause that shouldn’t happen in asia. I’m sorry for your bad experiences, but that is not the usually the case. where in asia was this exactly?</p>
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<p>…Why shouldn’t they? I’m confused here, Jersey13. This is the United States. All these elite institutions were founded in the United States, and the vast majority of students are from inside the country. It may be hard for non-minorities to understand this, but it would be ridiculous if race was eliminated altogether, because HYPSM’s racial makeup would look something like this:</p>
<p>Asian - 40%
White - 50%
African American - 5%
Hispanic - 4.9%
Native American - 0.1%</p>
<p>AA or no AA, it’s unfair for these top universities to not mimic the racial makeup of our nation. Of course, that’s just my opinion. Feel free to counter, which I’m sure you will do lol. :P</p>
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Exaggeration. (did I spell that right?)</p>