After a decades-long struggle to kill affirmative action, one man succeeded by using Asian American students as a wedge, say activists from Harvard and UNC. They see through it — and have fought back in interracial coalitions
over the past 13 years, Asian American students have outnumbered Black students too. “These attacks on their right to belong on campus — which is honestly what I would summarize the attacks on affirmative action as being about — is such an intense labor for them to continue on in spite of,” Chen says of Black students.
White students, Martin-Smith says, have been largely and disappointingly uninvolved in the battle for affirmative action on her campus. “I have not experienced a lot of white folks engaging in this conversation until it became time for media appearances, which is an unfortunate thing to say,” she says. “It shouldn’t just be on students of color to encourage white people to care. As a predominantly white institution, we will need to leverage the support of everybody.
In her work for Chinese for Affirmative Action, Sally Chen does outreach to engage Asian Americans in conversations and work towards broadening collegiate opportunity. She says she’s sometimes met with “healthy disagreement” when it comes to affirmative action in schools, understanding that the deep feelings of unfairness some harbor against it aren’t necessarily rooted in reality. “It’s hard to shift people’s understanding of facts often,” she says.
For each advocate, race-conscious admissions translates to valuing prospective students’ full lives. “In a world where race can’t matter but all these other factors can, you create a situation where some people can’t fully tell their story and others can,” says Brennen. In their debate, Alex Shieh said, “As Asian Americans, we’re told that we shouldn’t mention race in essays because it won’t be seen favorably,” advice Diep has also heard but refutes.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Smithsonian abruptly cancels Asian American literary festivalThis year’s Asian American Literature Festival — the first since 2019 — seemed destined to feel special. In a move that stunned the Smithsonian's partners for the event, the program was canceled just weeks before it was to take place in August.
Read more »
Harvard scientist claims he might’ve discovered alien technology in a meteor on EarthA Harvard scientist believes he may have discovered alien technology hidden inside of a meteor that crashed to Earth.
Read more »
Harvard Will Teach Students Using an AI Professor This Upcoming SemesterStarting in September, a popular intro-level coding course at Harvard University, CS50, will be taught by an AI professor.
Read more »
Harvard Scientist Thinks He Has Found Alien Meteor FragmentsHarvard's resident UFO hunter thinks he may have tiny found fragments of an interstellar meteor at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Read more »
Harvard Business Review - The LatestFind new ideas and classic advice on strategy, innovation and leadership, for global leaders from the world's best business and management experts.
Read more »
Stay Ahead of the Competition by Embracing an Innovation Culture - SPONSOR CONTENT FROM HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL ONLINESPONSORED: Stay Ahead of the Competition by Embracing an Innovation Culture online_HBS
Read more »