Penalized for Being Asian
In one of the few areas where we may accept the stereotype of being very smart as Asians can backfire on us. Where can we get a break? In an article in USA Today, there is a strategy used by Asians to not check the “Asian” category to increase their chances of getting accepted.
The tenet is that in elite Ivy League schools that are not completely colorblind, Asians need to test a lot higher than other ethnic groups to be accepted. This is outrageous! In a country where there are many roadblocks, this is blatantly wrong.
A lot of the justification comes towards having a diverse student body or similar arguments. BUT, people are quite selective when it comes to this reinforcement. Do they legislate that NBA or other sports should be forced to be as diverse? Is intellectual talent really all that different than athletic talent? In fact, even when it comes to athletic talent, Asians are slighted as was the case with Jeremy Lin who didn’t get into neighborhood Stanford despite excelling with many of the top honors in his High School career.
As an aside, it is interesting to note in the article that almost all the students interviewed had Asian mothers and Caucasian fathers. The only exception was one person where both parents are Asian. I don’t want to read too much into it, but is this just more of the media control? These days there are more Caucasian women dating Asian men that I see on the streets.
How to correct injustices? It takes action and keeping hope. Even for those who don’t get into the top schools, you can still succeed immensely by doing what you can with what you’re given. There will be obstacles in the work place too due to discrimination but keep striving for yourself.
Original article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-12-03/asian-students-college-applications/51620236/1
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