Asian Americans Aren’t White Folks’ ‘Racial Mascots’
By Frank H. Wu and William Kidder
Affirmative action has almost always been framed as a Black and White issue. But as Michigan voters this fall consider the latest Ward Connerly ballot measure, which would prohibit consideration of race and gender in university admissions, it is becoming clear that Asian Americans are hidden in a dangerous blind spot. Although usually excluded from discussions about civil rights, Asian Americans are increasingly introduced as an argument against racial diversity. Yet like all Americans, Asian immigrants and their native-born children benefit from the modest efforts to include everyone in the American Dream.
The misleading claims about Asian Americans are quite common. For
example, in the 2003 Supreme Court cases involving the University of Michigan, even though the plaintiffs were White, their legal counsel obtained class action status to represent Asian Americans as well. They asserted that affirmative action harmed not only their Caucasian clients but “especially Asian Americans.”
Even scholars who say they support affirmative action repeat this error. Two Princeton University sociologists, who have said they believe that affirmative action is worthwhile, published a widely noticed study last year which stated that Asian Americans at elite college campuses would gain the most seats if Blacks and Latinos lost them.
Like many racial stereotypes, the so-called “model minority” status of Asian Americans contains a germ of truth. Unfortunately, it is exaggerated, distorted and often presented without causes and contexts.
